Church View Surgery 2014-10-23 Person 4 5 0

In terms of receptionists and access to doctors, virtually every receptionist / member of the office administration could not be more helpful, kind or considerate. Nothing is perfect, and I have encountered only one there, whose manner, both at the reception window, and on the phone, leaves something to be desired, but she is an isolated case, and I believe has been made aware of this, because I am not the only patient who has experienced this. Getting an appointment either for myself or my elderly Dad is not significantly difficult, although holding on the phone can be irksome, I suppose, if you were in full-time employment, and time was more precious. I do think that there should be a more-streamlined way of picking up prescriptions - often you're waiting just to pick one up, while Mrs X at the receptionist window is taking ages explaining her problems to a receptionist. But where I think Church View scores, is that the admin staff don't see themselves as a first line of defence for the medical staff - at a nearby surgery I read that patients are almost grilled by the admin staff to see if they really need to 'bother' the doctors. This is NOT the case at Church View. All the ancillary nursing staff are first-rate, general nurses, phlebotomists, etc, and they are very easy to get on my. It's almost like a large friendly 'family', yet professionally run. I haven't visited all the doctors in the team, and clearly there will be differences in personality, and general manner. Some will be more restrained, others more relaxed. Having seen a TV programme about the demands on GPs in a surgery, they all have my greatest sympathy! The defining line is really making the patient feel that the consultation isn't rushed at all, while equally trying to deal with a patient in the most expedite fashion. I know from my own father, that he likes to tell his life-story when asked 'How can we help you today?', and I often feel like saying, just tell the doctor that you're have trouble urinating, or whatever the issue is. Dad has had excellent service from home visits, and if these can't always be from his designated GP, then the replacement is usually very good - unless a locum, who aren't perhaps always as concerned, nor who know the history as intimately! Our designated GP is Dr Mike Price, and we always feel 'better' after consulting him. He has a great 'bedside' manner, and is so very generous with his time, perhaps occasioning a little late running, but that's fine by us. He lets you make the decisions, but informed by his expertise, and is always prepared to listen, and modify, if medications/dosages need tweaking. The surgery also employs trainee GPs at various parts of their training, and if these are all of the outstanding quality as our current Doctor Louise Martin, then there is still some hope for the NHS, despite the present government's hell-bent wish to wreck it all!