Reviews
It is meant to take two weeks to be seen if your G.P. suspects cancer. My G.P. suspects I have skin cancer. It took Strathmoore surgery (Wrecsam) THREE WORKING DAYS to send an “Urgent Referral” to the bookings department. I have been told that there is a TEN WEEK DELAY…. I am going to have to wait TWELVE+ WEEKS for an “Emergency Referral”.
I have three children one of whom is only nine years old.
Strathmoore's delay has caused me a huge amount of distress and has probably shortened my chances of survival.
It seems almost impossible to get an appointment to see a doctor. If you are old or ill, you cannot join in the 8 o'clock melee so that's out. Then you look at the online system to arrange to speak to a doctor but that is always closed - or so it seems. Other pracices keep this system open all day but not Strathmore. Why?
So I don’t need an appointment for a week because it’s not an emergency but I also should have gone to
A an E because it is a life-threatening emergency! Which is it Strathmore because you can’t have it both ways.
Make it make sense because I don’t understand.
Plus the receptionists are a liability.
Honestly I think they need to improve their systems and their receptionists. I don’t think it’s fair to hand out appointments realistically in the first half hour of opening. That’s not a triage system but a “first come, first served system.”
I’ve had a look at a couple of medical practices (in a basic first to come up in a Google search) and they offer:
48 Hour appointments. We aim to offer an appointment within two working days for people with problems that are not urgent but need reasonably quick attention. These appointments become available on a rolling basis and so it is not necessary to phone at any particular time of day to be given one of them. You will offered an appointment with the first available GP, not necessarily the one of your choice. (Narbeth Surgery)
Or:
1. Critical service: available 8am till 6pm daily for patients who are seriously unwell and may require hospital treatment if not managed today
2. Routine appointments: phone on the day that you wish to be seen to book a routine appointment. We will have a fixed number of appointments available every day. When they have all been given out, then it would be a question of calling back on a different day.
3. Follow up appointments: some appts will be kept on one side for when the doctor has specifically requested you to book a follow up appointment with them.
I think they need to change the system because the same people who ring up consistently at 8am, get all the appointments. Are they more in need? Who knows they just rang up first. There’s no triage there. Good idea to keep appointments back because they’re denying patients treatment who may need it more urgently.
Listen too people not pass the buck
Resources
Short link to review Strathmore Medical Practice: http://iwgc.net/ecaxf