The Firs

The Firs 2016-07-19 Person 2 5 0

I have been registered at this surgery for over 10 years and the appointments situation and administration are getting worse and worse. I've found the reception staff to he helpful and responsive to complaints but they are clearly dealing with an impossible situation. It is impossible to book ahead, even with the online booking facility there are never any appointments bookable. The only option is to try to get an emergency appointment, which for me means taking a day off work just to attempt to get through on the phone because I work over an hour away from the surgery. It normally takes me around 30 attempts to get into the phone queue, and if I make it my call will often get cut off and I'll have to start again. Often by the time I get to speak to a receptionist all the appointments have gone. This is baffling because it's not a busy surgery - if you ever get an appointment you'll find the waiting room empty. The admin problems have directly affected my care. So far this year I have twice been referred to hospital and twice the surgery has messed this up. For the first instance faxes with my referral and test results got lost between the hospital and GP several times, causing a month delay in my surgery. The only reason it happened at all was because I constantly chased to check that faxes had been received and were being actioned. With the second referral I was referred to a completely different hospital to the one I requested and not given the paperwork I should have been.

The Firs 2016-05-10 Person 2 5 0

I find the the doctors very good at the firs, the tricky thing is actually getting to see them. The reception staff are very unhelpful and getting through on the phone is an impossible task. The whole booking system doesn't work and hasn't for as long as I can remember. The reception staff are generally dealing with complaints due to this ill advised system. This then makes the situation worse as patients are on the phone waiting to book an appointment, and when you finally get through ( after being told that one person is in front of me) after 20 minutes they have all gone. Getting an appointment seems to be a daily lottery. I understand that the NHS is stretched but answering a phone and having a system that is ill prepared to answer the calls is not helping. surely there is a better way of dealing with these calls, and I am sure a better system would lead to receptionists being able to deal with requests rather than complaints.

The Firs 2016-05-09 Person 2 5 0

Have been with this surgery for a number of years lately it is impossible to get appointment I have been trying for 13 days, the on call suggested by voicemail that I speak to pharmacist I have already spoke to pharmacist and need prescription from g.p ! Have been advised to go to walk in clinic?! I don't understand why as I have a g.p . It's no wonder A&E is under so much pressure may I suggest either take on less patients or employ more doctors and a more efficient appointment system, after 13 days of attempting to get an appointment it's a wonder I don't need intense counselling services as I have never felt more stressed !

The Firs 2016-04-04 Person 1 5 0

It is the worst GP Clinic I've experience. There is no proper telephone queuing system so you have to call repeatedly to get an endless series of busy signals. It is practically impossible to get an appointment! I am often out of the country and sometimes need more than the standard supply of medication. I've repeatedly told the doctor this but it is simply ingnored!

The Firs 2016-03-16 Person 1 5 0

I don't recommend the centre to anybody, even my worst enemy. They lose documents, they are extremely slow, is not possible book an appointment is calling, calling, calling .. they are not sensitive at all and not emphaty...