Old Cottage Hospital Surgery

Written by a patient

As like other reviews whether you are trying to call at 8.30am to make an appointment which is horrendous, even calling during the day no-one picks up the phone. I had to get a 3 & 4 year old in the car once, one of whom was ill whilst still holding on the phone line, drive to the surgery to see the 2 receptionists chatting away. When I showed them my phone that I have been & were still on hold for 20 minutes now and the phone wasn't even ringing at the surgery the reply I got was - 'If you are on hold for more than 2 minutes hang up and try again as you get caught in a loop' This is unacceptable service. The receptionist are rude and unhelpful. If you could choose your doctor like you could choose your dentist then I'm sure this surgery would be empty and out of business. I have also been trying to book appointments on the so called website for 2 years but this is still not working. Does it actually exist? Has anyone used it? I have currently today been trying to call to make an appointment from 10.45am till 12 noon and no-one has picked up. Absolutely disgusting

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Written by a patient

Totally unacceptable my partner and I have been calling this surgery for the past 2 hours since 8am this morning to book an appointment for myself and no one picks up the phone they just keep playing the same boring music and just keep you waiting on the phone I checked the time on my phone and it had reached 5 minutes 34 seconds I find this absolutely unacceptable and disgusting behavior!

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Written by a patient

The whole team are fantastic. The receptionists in particular (particularly the blonde lady) go the extra mile to sort you out and to ask how you are - so genuine and kind. The GP's have been consistently great and the nurses always helpful. The PA (Laura) is absolutely wonderful- so pro-active, careful but confident and extremely approachable. I think it's a wonderful practice. In terms of appointments, I do have most luck by turning up to queue for an appointment rather than using the telephone system but I'm sure this is the case everywhere. It seems that getting a nurses appointment is the most difficult (e.g. blood test or stitch removal) so they are clearly very busy. Overall, it is brilliant- thank you all.

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Written by a patient

Since registering at this practice a few months ago, I've tried to book an appointment on three occasions. The experience in trying to book an appointment is hopeless. Phone calls are not answered - on my last attempt, I tried calling 27 times before abandoning. I registered on the website to try and circumvent this, only to find its either down for maintenance, or listed as "service unavailable". If i ever get to meet a real doctor, I'll be delighted to review that experience, but i won't hold my breath.

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Written by a carer

My partner and I have faced the same problem that everyone has faced - the impossibility of getting an appointment. Dialing incessantly for 45 minutes and continually getting an engaged tone I was told that there were no further appointments for the day. The secretary was very unhelpful and when I mentioned that their online system had failed to work in the last few weeks, she simply told me to call again on Monday! I tried to explain that this was not an easy feat considering the time it takes but she expressed in tones that suggested this was not her problem. When I pointed our that we had an urgent need to call earlier in the week but had failed to get through on every occasion, she completely ignored my comment and said that they answer every call! Well clearly they don't! This is by far the worst experience I have had in booking appointments!

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