The Grange Practice

Written by a patient

I arrived at the practice today needing a repeat prescription. (I had left it a little late.) Enzo could not have been more helpful!! Thank you

Recommend

Involvement

Cleanliness

Staff

Appointment

Written by a patient

The reception team is often understaffed and trying to telephone for an appointment in the morning is more or less impossible. I called over 100 times Tuesday (17th Jan)! I rarely get to see my own GP unless I wait for up to five weeks. Nevertheless, the doctors are fantastic, proactive and efficient. Admin however lets the system down.

Recommend

Involvement

Cleanliness

Staff

Appointment

Written by a patient

Had a telephone call from the surgery on Friday 09/12/16 asking me to make a routine appointment with my Doctor, it was late afternoon when I received the call so knew it would be too late to make an appointment on that day. On Monday 12/12/16 I went to the surgery at 7.30 to make said appointment, as it was only a routine appointment there was nothing available, the receptionist could not book an appointment for the next day either, I told the receptionist that it seems it will be a waste of time to come to the surgery early on Wednesday 14/12/16 to try for an appointment, she told me no, come up Wednesday early and try. Went to the surgery this morning again 14/12/16 at 7.30, receptionist said sorry it's only a routine appointment so cannot offer you anything, I said to him ' So a routine appointment is not that important, so what was the point of the telephone call from the surgery on Friday 09/12/16 ' ? he told me that he can only go by what the Doctor has put on the system. He offered me a telephone call from the Doctor, do not know if that will happen from previous experience with this kind of care, where no telephone call was ever received. What is the point of Routine Appointments being issued by the Doctors when there are never any appointments available. seems pretty senseless to me and a complete waste of time and money for the surgery to call me to request I make an appointment. Something is not quite right with this system it does not take a rocket scientist to see it.

Recommend

Involvement

Cleanliness

Staff

Appointment

Written by a patient

I have been a patient at this practice since 1997. It's always hard work to get an appointment. I find by sending my son in person when the surgery opens first thing in the morning is the only way to get an emergency appointment the same day (as advised by a receptionist in the past). This is because the phone line is constantly engaged, apart from at lunch time when nobody answers and it just rings. Out of hours is an answer phone. My experience with the Doctors doesn't get much better to be frank. I went to see Dr.Ward after discovering a breast lump. I made him aware of my mother's breast cancer in the 1970s. He examined me and diagnosed it wasn't a tumour. Almost a year later I had returned to the surgery as the lump had increased in size. He referred me for a scan which confirmed I had breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy to remove the cancer and then had to have radiotherapy treatment to my chest to ensure any cells left after surgery were treated. Had this have been identified earlier, the radiotherapy could have been avoided. In May this year I was given 5 years clear and came out of remission by the breast consultant at QEQM Hospital. In October of this year I was diagnosed with Lung cancer after referral for an x-ray by the surgery's locum Doctor. I had attended the surgery previously with breathlessness in July, August, September and October and seen Dr.Maiden-Tillson and Dr.O.Lyell, as well as the COPD nurse all of which failed to identify the symptoms I had gone to the surgery with as one of the main indications of lung cancer. The locum Doctor however, upon examining my chest with a stethoscope, urgently referred me for x-ray. Research shows the link between lung and breast cancer indicates that scorching of the lung from radiotherapy to the breast means a patient is 80% more likely to get lung cancer within ten years of treatment to the breast. So had my breast cancer been diagnosed upon my discovery of a lump, I may not have needed radiotherapy and the likeliness of subsequently developing lung cancer reduced. Furthermore had my initial appointment regarding my breathlessness been identified as a symptom of lung cancer, I could have had been offered a better treatment than available to me at the stage my cancer is at now. As we know, early diagnosis improves prognosis. When seeing a lung consultant at the hospital, he was shocked and disgusted when seeing the inhalers I was prescribed. This is because even just from hearing my breathing, he identified COPD and discovered the inhalers I have were likely to be making my breathing worse rather then alleviating breathlessness. I appreciate the strain upon GPs in England, but think that such an obvious symptom of the biggest killing cancer in the UK shouldn't take so long to diagnose. Likewise the second biggest killer of women, breast cancer shouldn't be ignored (especially with genetic family history). How can such important factors be missed by multiple doctors? Aswell as in not identifying COPD in an asthma patient?

Recommend

Involvement

Cleanliness

Staff

Appointment

Written by a patient

i put a repeat prescription in the surgery on Thursday 1st Dec for a imigrain nasal spray that i need as i suffer from cluster headaches and i went to collect today to be told that nothing had been handed in and my prescription was not ready this is the 2nd time running that the receptionist a male with glasses has managed to lose my prescription and after asking him why they keep going missing was simply told once he puts it in the box its nothing more to do with him. the surgery over the last 12 months has gradually become so bad i am currently looking to change doctors.

Recommend

Involvement

Cleanliness

Staff

Appointment