Horrid administration setup. You have to call at 8am and keep your fingers and toes crossed that you may win the raffle for an appointment after being on hold for any time ranging from 30 - 90 minutes. You're then told by a receptionist who is all too eager to hang up (so you can't even confirm you heard them right), that the GP will call you "before 2pm". Some time after 1pm, you dare to depart from your beloved phone for the first time since the morning for a quick dash to the loo (and you're now half-convinced the lovely receptionist said AFTER 2pm).
Lo and behold, you've missed your "phone consultation" by mere seconds. Receive a text saying you have to call the surgery up to re-book an appointment. Cue another 20-minute wait as you attempt to reach reception, only to have a conversation that may as well have been with a brick wall: I just missed the call by a few seconds, can the GP call me back? "Sorry, but the GP has left a message that you must rebook your appointment." Doesn't the GP normally give a 2nd call back? *silence for 2 minutes* "Sorry, but the GP has left a message that you must rebook your appointment." So... Can I book an appointment then? "Unfortunately, I have nothing available for this afternoon." Then can I book an appointment for tomorrow? "You have to call up in the morning, our lines open at 8am".
So repeats the never-ending nightmare. I'm confused why we are never given a reasonable timeslot within which to expect the phone call. To be told the call will be any time between 9am - 2pm, receive a single phone call, and then be told that I have missed the appointment and must re-book is downright disrespectful.
It's been more than 2 years since the pandemic hit, yet this surgery continues to milk telephone consultations as their PRIMARY form of patient contact. And doing a horrible job of it at that.
I sincerely hope the manager/GP partners (I'm looking at you, Solomon family!) have a sit-down and re-think this system as it's clearly not working. I would be surprised if they weren't already aware of it, which makes me wonder what on earth they are doing? Life-threatening illnesses will go undetected primarily due to the poorly organised appointment system.
I have been really patient and even previously defended you guys, but if our doctors lack the basic initiative to perform this simple solve, then these truly are worrying times.
Malaikaa13 10279 days ago
Horrible experience desk lady was not helpful at all and very very rude. set alarm to be up for 7:15 just to make sure to get this appointment I couldn’t get through to the GP and so I walked 20 mins to get desk help, understandably she said she can’t let me in as they only do phone bookings , but I repeatedly explained to her that my phone wasn’t working and I needed help and her response every time was to ‘ call in the go to book appointments’ with what phone ? After me being persistent with her asking for help she took my details then asked me what I wanted to book for . I tell her and she then asks why/reason which I felt was extremely inappropriate to ask me in the street as , yes I was still outside talking to a wall buzzer . I was then referred a number which told me that the GP should not of sent me here but he was so nice and understanding and so helpful and lovely he booked my appointment for me ELSE where, instead of my own GP. I’m left feeling extremely frustrated and uncomfortable. She was very rude -
Abu Junayed310 days ago
Absolute shambles to book an appointment here and no one seems to care. What happened to patient care?
The lady that's normally at the front is lovely and always trying to help. The doctors are great too, namingly Dr Solomon Jr.
But I have nothing good to say for other staff members who are less than helpful. You have to book an appointment at 8 o clock for the day which you'll be held in a queue for an hour, what if you're underground headed to work? A flawed system that needs to be changed.
Kewal rahman340 days ago
Dr Chana is a great doctor however the admin at the gp are terrible, every time I call all appointments are taken and pre-booked… so they say to call the next day at 8am which is impossible as I work and I’m not asking for a same day appointment I’m asking for an appointment any time. Does the appointments magically get un-prebooked at 8am? I’m very curious. Like all the other reviews say dr Chana and dr Solomon are very great however poor admin is letting them down
Ranjit Kaur1 year ago
I think Dr Chana is a brilliant doctor. But what lets this surgery down is first the office staff. They do not speak to patients professionally, they don't come across as if they genuinely care and want to help, and just extremely unhelpful. The second major problem is the surgery is still using telephone consultations as the main form of patient care and it's difficult to get appointments whether telephone or face to face. I realise the surgery has been stretched for some time, but the surgery needs to be more transparent and find solutions to improve patient care. I recommend a full revamp of the office (staff and processes) and staff reviewing how things have been running for the past few years, solutions are needed and patient care needs to be the heart of what any gp surgery does.
S P1 year ago
Horrible Receptionist Staff You have to wait for 30-90 minutes before calling at 8am to book an appointment. You can’t get an appointment if someone else in your family also has an appointment. You will be told to call back next week. After calling for 3 days straight to book an appointment, they tell you to call an out of hours hub or go to A&E if you are that unwell, as they are only taking urgent appointments only. Receptionist staff are incredibly rude and disrespectful.
Hugo Camacho1 year ago
I tried to get an appointment with St Clements Surgery for several days in a row, in two different moments and it was nearly impossible. Not only is extremely difficult to get to be seen but they force you to wait on the phone line for 20 to 30 minutes at 8am every day to have no success in booking a time to be seen. They dont even apologise or say anything, you simply get the line dropped on you.
Julie khanom2 years ago
DON'T REGISTER! this place is such a let down due to their RECEPTIONIST RANI! SHE IS RUDE OVER THE PHONE EVEN IF YOU TRY TO CALL AT 8AM ON DOT SHE WILL TELL YOU NO APPOINTMENT AND AT LIKE SHE KNOWS BEST OUT OF EVERYONE. She becomes the doctor! That's not acceptable and the way she speaks you would want to hung up on her as she is so bitter and not polite. They won't hand out appointments even when call on time which is rubbish but other receptionist are great and understanding but RANI NEEDS TO GO.!!!
Lo and behold, you've missed your "phone consultation" by mere seconds. Receive a text saying you have to call the surgery up to re-book an appointment. Cue another 20-minute wait as you attempt to reach reception, only to have a conversation that may as well have been with a brick wall:
I just missed the call by a few seconds, can the GP call me back?
"Sorry, but the GP has left a message that you must rebook your appointment."
Doesn't the GP normally give a 2nd call back?
*silence for 2 minutes*
"Sorry, but the GP has left a message that you must rebook your appointment."
So... Can I book an appointment then?
"Unfortunately, I have nothing available for this afternoon."
Then can I book an appointment for tomorrow?
"You have to call up in the morning, our lines open at 8am".
So repeats the never-ending nightmare.
I'm confused why we are never given a reasonable timeslot within which to expect the phone call. To be told the call will be any time between 9am - 2pm, receive a single phone call, and then be told that I have missed the appointment and must re-book is downright disrespectful.
It's been more than 2 years since the pandemic hit, yet this surgery continues to milk telephone consultations as their PRIMARY form of patient contact. And doing a horrible job of it at that.
I sincerely hope the manager/GP partners (I'm looking at you, Solomon family!) have a sit-down and re-think this system as it's clearly not working. I would be surprised if they weren't already aware of it, which makes me wonder what on earth they are doing? Life-threatening illnesses will go undetected primarily due to the poorly organised appointment system.
I have been really patient and even previously defended you guys, but if our doctors lack the basic initiative to perform this simple solve, then these truly are worrying times.
I couldn’t get through to the GP and so I walked 20 mins to get desk help, understandably she said she can’t let me in as they only do phone bookings , but I repeatedly explained to her that my phone wasn’t working and I needed help and her response every time was to ‘ call in the go to book appointments’ with what phone ?
After me being persistent with her asking for help she took my details then asked me what I wanted to book for . I tell her and she then asks why/reason which I felt was extremely inappropriate to ask me in the street as , yes I was still outside talking to a wall buzzer . I was then referred a number which told me that the GP should not of sent me here but he was so nice and understanding and so helpful and lovely he booked my appointment for me ELSE where, instead of my own GP. I’m left feeling extremely frustrated and uncomfortable. She was very rude -
The lady that's normally at the front is lovely and always trying to help. The doctors are great too, namingly Dr Solomon Jr.
But I have nothing good to say for other staff members who are less than helpful. You have to book an appointment at 8 o clock for the day which you'll be held in a queue for an hour, what if you're underground headed to work? A flawed system that needs to be changed.
You have to wait for 30-90 minutes before calling at 8am to book an appointment.
You can’t get an appointment if someone else in your family also has an appointment. You will be told to call back next week.
After calling for 3 days straight to book an appointment, they tell you to call an out of hours hub or go to A&E if you are that unwell, as they are only taking urgent appointments only.
Receptionist staff are incredibly rude and disrespectful.