Gateways Surgery

Good Dr's. Can always get a 'medical emergency' appointment on the day. However, to get a non emergency appointment with your own Dr. is normally a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks, often longer. The system seems to encourage cases that wouldn't normally be classed as an emergency, to class them us such, to get an appointment in an appropriate amount of time. If you have an infected toe that you've had for a while and isn't improving, the chances are it will need antibiotics.To wait 3 weeks will probably mean it will get worse and possibly become an emergency. However, can you in all honesty say that it's a medical emergency now ?. So the choice is to a/call it an emergency to get an appointment on the day, or
2/Suffer for a few weeks, by which time it may well have become an emergency and be a lot more difficult, not to mention expensive to treat.? I'm certain that if you could get an appointment within a week to 10 days, the 'emergency' appointments would drop by a huge percentage. This can't be impossible, the same number of people will be seen, only on a more appropriate time scale. A system to encourage this must be possible surely.

My doctor here is an absolute legend! Really the best GP I've ever had. The nurse is lovely too.
However the reception staff can be the most obtuse, difficult women you'd ever have the misfortune of having to deal with. One of them is good and helpful however I've had some terrible experiences with one or two more. Refusing to do something that a consultant had requested which ended up wasting a whole consultants appointment, not making an emergency appointment to the point an ambulance crew were called and then suddenly there was one free at 4 o'clock. Such as shame.
As I said though my GP is an superstar and I am so lucky to have him.

Like all surgeries around here during the pandemic, you have to wait outside, regardless of weather conditions, before being allowed in to appointment!!

No matter how many times I call and explain I need an emergency appointment, no one seems to believe me. I’ve tried to make an appointment several times in the past week. Receptionists are rude, and Drs can be quite invasive when you actually get an appointment.

Thank you Sam,Dr Vashisht and Pam for your help and kindness..much appreciated

Completely rude and unprofessional!
Extremely unhelpful when I called about my son having an allergic reaction to something. They wouldn’t even see him and have me a phone call appointment 5 hours after I called

Was deferred to this surgery from Radlett and I met the best doctor ever. She listened to me fully, perfectly diagnosed what I thought was a complex issue and finally spoke to me face to face and explained how to get right back on to a full recovery. Hope I get deferred again to there if needed.

The doctor made a mistake with my prescription then went on annual leave causing a lot of confusion to which he blamed me for, called me screaming and shouting telling me to leave the surgery as a patient. Then gets me banned from the surgery leaving a patient with mental health conditions with no doctor, when i complained rather than the complaint being investigated thoroughly. Red house group sent an email back agreeing with the doctor to ban me from being a patient after 26 years