Share review of Horton Bank Practice

Horton Bank Practice 2015-10-14 Person 2 5 0

I have persevered with this surgery for some time now and have tried to be understanding about their appointment system, but I really am at the end of my tether and unsure what to do. I actually broke down in tears after I got off the phone for the 7th time this week having been told I had missed all the available appointments again. However, I don't know if my symptoms are severe enough to warrant wasting a hospitals time. But my condition is now genuinely going to keep me from working tomorrow, so what do I do? As a teacher, its very difficult for me to call at 2pm on the dot. If I call at 2.30pm, I'm made to feel like its my fault for being so lapsed in my approach. I'm not the sort of person to go to the doctors with a sniffle of a cough and I appreciate the government is putting a lot of stress and strain on the NHS, but why must the appointment system be so bad at this surgery when other surgeries I have used in the past in different parts of the country are so very easy? What is stopping this surgery from allowing you to simply call up and book an appointment in a couple of days time? I have never known anything like it! And I'm sure, like so many others, you get that 'oh, sorry, you should have called at 2pm' comment from the reception staff and just want to scream with frustration and the lack of hope that drifts through you. Then you remind yourself it isn't their fault. However, if they want an appointment, they simply need to check themselves in on the computer they are sat at. Oh, wait, no. they are probably registered elsewhere because they know the system doesn't work. I have never really had any complaints about the care I receive at this surgery, but I just simply cannot get in to see anyone. So I am now on my way to a walk in centre where I know I am putting extra strain on a system designed for people who need to be seen today, but I really do need to see a GP.