The Plaza Surgery

Written by a carer

I have tried on numerous occasions to get an answer from this practice. Today, I eventually got an answer from a rude and condescending person, who out the phone down on me. My crime? To enquire when my 91 year old mum will be likely to have her covid vaccine. This person should not be working in a situation where she speaks to the public, as her telephone manner is not helpful. She ended the call with Take it up with the Government. I was not rude to this person, just would have liked an understanding rereply. I hope someone reads this. There surely must be better people to deal with general enquiries!!!

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Written by a patient

I have found all the Doctors, Nurses & reception staff very pleasant, caring & helpful. It is a shame the NHS cutbacks/lack of resources reduces time with GPs to 10mins slots & the pressures all staff in the NHS are under. In the past I have had to repeat dial at 8.00 to try & get appointments for my children or myself.

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Written by a patient

I actually write this review having not seen a doctor yet. I arrived in good time for my 3.50 appointment. It's now 4.45 and not end in sight. No patients are advised of a delay when checking in........not a good first experience.

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Written by a patient

Calling to get an appointment is a disgrace. Once I called at 8am over 100 times and to no avail. Makes me think if it was an old person who simply cannot do this. This system is a disgrace and is obviously not working. No one ever answers the phones on normal hours. Is there simply not enough staff to cope? Or is it not bein managed right? Is the service provided not enough to cope with a growing demand, what I mean. Surely, something as simple as someone to answer the phones should not be an issue. No one truly cares anymore. We are all just numbers in a system.... They only care about QOF points. Not even staff is valued, so they feel unappreciated and don't do the work... Everyone only ever move when CQC gets involved or the word sue comes up. All I want is for someone to answer the phones..... So I can get some customer service support ....

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Written by a patient

The receptionists were actually very friendly. However over the last few weeks I've been using a centralised call centre which means that you're competing with other surgeries to get someone to answer your call to make an appointment. The fact that you have to call in at 8 o'clock in the morning on the day that you want an appointment with the doctor makes it even more Frustrating because you can't get an appointment at your convenience. In the olden days you used to be able to phone and make an appointment for 5 o'clock next Tuesday or whenever, and now that's just not possible. Last Friday I was very ill with depression and I was having a panic attack even whilst talking to the receptionist, and I was just left in the doctor's surgery with no reassurance, in great distress and no hope of actually seeing anybody. All I needed was a repeat prescription at the correct dosage of my medication! I had to even ask for a cup to get a drink of water! This kind of ignoring people that are obviously in distress is inexcusable. In the end it took A visit to the walk-in centre downstairs and two further visits with the reception at the Plaza in order for my medication to be issued. This is just not acceptable in this day and age. I realise that the receptionists have a very tough job not only in the surgery but also they're affected by the constraints of a government who do not invest heavily enough in the national health service. However, it should be possible to book appointments which are convenient to the patient, and I feel that I should not have been ignored while sitting in the reception area in great distress.

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