Horton Bank Practice 2018-06-30 Person 4 5 0

This had been my surgery for many years and I have seen the practice deteriorate over the time which has been such a shame. There are so noticeboard and notices all converting walls and counter and they are so many its overwhelming to try to read themand...many overlap and are not even straight. Whoever puts them up had no sense of balance our coordination and they make the place look unsightly. Photocopied notices on the tables can be faint, lopsided print, badly worded and slapdash. If a job is worth doing it it worth doing nicely at least and correctly. In May an outside notice was informing of Easter closure dates. ..2 months out of date. Notices on the electronic screen someone's have spelling mistakes. All this gives the impression of 'slap dash' -more care should be taken. Then there is the issue of reception staff who can be offhand and even rude. If you ring the bell in reception out can feel like you have interrupted them. They really need training on courtesy and politeness - and public relations. A lesson on empathy wouldn't go amiss either. I don't think the doctors realise the reception staff act like gatekeepers and are quite dreaded. The practice manager/administrator doesn't always know the facts and makes answers up. For instance why the online system doesn't work outside the uk and why the system only let me book one appointment. Her answer to both my queries feely like i was being 'fobbed off'. Both answers were initially wrong and i had to charge her to check for the correct information (which proved her wrong). Making appointments has been dire. Often it can be 3 or more weeks for the first available appointment. However there had recently been a new initiative for Monday and Thursday quick appointment clinic. This seems to be working well but it is only for new ailments which closes the door on someone who feels the need to see a gp for an existing ailment. It's a start and better than nothing. The telephone system runs a lengthy message at each call which could be changed to a better system because for people on PAYG mobile's our wastes so much time. ...and money. Then there's the problem of having made the call only to find out there is a different number which you have to tying and repeat the exercise because the caller couldn't remember the other number given in the message. It really needs updating. So, retrain the reception staff on effective communication and politeness; clean up the cluttered and unsightly notices; print forms nicely; update the telephone message system; and work on the appointment system. It is a good practice that had been long standing with good doctors and a few minor improvements will make it outstanding.