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The Old School Surgery 2024-02-15 Person 3 5 0

I would firstly like to say having been a patient here for nearly 20 years the care delivered is exceptional and the doctors, nurses and support staff are some of the most dedicated I have come across, particularly Dr Hallam and Dr Barnard. My complaint is about the new booking system. I'm aware its an attempt to streamline and save time, but from a service user perspective I believe it is over complicated and puts people off seeking support from their GP. I have been wanting some routine checks for a while but ended up going round in circles and getting nowhere. I then put this off for months and popped in today to ask at reception for an appointment. The receptionist was lovely and very helpful but was unable to do this as apparently it can't be done this way anymore. She sent me some links via text, which I followed, but it really isn't straightforward and far more complicated than is necessary. I'm a nurse myself in secondary services and felt like not bothering to be honest. Many of my patients/carers complain about this system at your surgery and if I feel I can't be bothered i dread to think how many other patients are ignoring health care needs because of an overcomplicated system. Although this might be helping systems in the short term I truly believe this is stacking up a health crisis in the future. It is excluding people and is not at all accessible. It would be simpler to employ more reception staff and whilst this may seem costly, in terms of health promotion in the long term it would save. Apologies about the rant and again I'd like to offer my sincerest thanks to all of the wonderful staff members there who deliver outstanding care.

Employ more humans to answer the phone and book appointments. Employ more nurse/health practitioners to triage queries as many will not require a medic.