Gladstone Surgery

The doctors, nurses and midwives are great. However, I recently had a very disappointing experience with the overall administration and reception. The staff is not appropriately trained to handle the filling of health forms and there appears to be no clear process in place in terms of who is accountable for what. They do not manage patient expectations in terms of timeline and the information given to patients is wrong or/and unclear. If you are in need of a form, give yourself plenty time in order to deal with the bureaucracy and various types of miscommunication.

Usually quite good surgery overall. Today I've been trying to call over an hour on the morning with lines being busy and then once the line wasn't busy the receptionist hung up on me twice!
No luck so far this afternoon neither.

Listening to automated voice message for apprx 2mins when calling & only to be told "sorry we are now closed" at the end of recorded message - calling since 8am & for the record its 8.27 am now

Surgery experience is fine and the staff are good once you manage to speak to them, but the phone situation is ridiculous. I never had a problem getting through until they 'upgraded' the phone system. The message before you're put on hold or told the surgery is closed is far far FAR too long, and actually repeats some information. I'm currently on hold and have been for 17 minutes. My husband was told yesterday I could pop down at 8.30 to get an appointment but it wouldn't be there and then, I have a toddler (who the appointment is for) so that's not particularly feasible.

3 weeks later & still the same issue

Listening to automated voice message for apprx 1min & 30seconds when calling & only to be told "sorry we are now closed" at the end of recorded message - calling since 8am & for the record its 8.20 am now

Once you are able to fight your way through the ridiculous phone and appointment booking system, doctors do what they are supposed to.

But oh my god, getting an appointment with them feels like winning the lottery - endless waiting on the phone, most of the time appointments for the day are gone within 20 mins of the slots opening. So being seen by a doctor comes down to luck rather than medical need. Ridiculous system! And to clarify, 90% of the time, 'seen' by a doctor means having a 2-minute telephone chat. At best, you'd be given prescription for antibiotics without even being physically examined. No wonder people are getting sicker. Such a thing as prevention does not exist.

Been on hold for over 1hr 30min. This is normal. Can't see a GP. It's all over the phone. Absolutely fed up trying with these guys.

Only gave one star because there was no lower choice. No response to letter. Can't get to speak to anyone by phone - I can't hold on for 30+ minutes. I don't have Covid, which seems to be the only way of getting any attention. Diabetes, hypotension, fainting, urinary problems, chronic fatigue, muscle cramps and depression don't seem to matter. Perhaps their view is that I'll either get better somehow or die. In either case I won't be a problem anymore.