Howdale Surgery

It's all okay, the staff are kind and it's very convenient as I only live up the road. I have had to wait a while for an appointment but other than that it's okay.

Overall the service is quite good and I am happy here. They usually fit you in if you need an appointment and the staff are lovely.

Today they were very quick but sometimes there is a queue. Today has been easy as I have just picked up my prescription but I do usually think the service here is good.

It's not too long to wait to be seen and I can get an appointment as I need. The staff are very good, definitely 5 star. It's all good.

Everything that is regular like my asthma check always seems to work well and is very good, but for other things it can be very hard to get an appointment. Just over a year ago I had an appointment but when I arrived I was told the wrong appointment had been booked and they couldn't do as I had hoped and expected.

They had booked the appointment and I found it very upsetting. The person I saw threw my sample away and said they couldn't use it.

I was so upset by this experience that I left an ... d didn't come back for a year. It feels like it is difficult to easily get what you need and you don't always get enough information.

You don't know who you are going to see. There used to have staff name boards with photos in the waiting area and I think if these were there again patients would find it helpful.

I have never really had a problem, the staff are all so lovely and most of my experiences have been very good. It can be hard to get an appointment.

The trickiest bit is having to call between 8.30 and 9am.

It is school drop off time and I'm also a teacher. I can't take calls for telephone appointments at an unspecified time during the school day.

If it was easier to get an appointment I would have given a 5 out of five star rating.

The staff are always very cheerful, receptive and helpful and you usually get a quick response. I can get an appointment okay and the conversation on the phone with the doctor last week was very good and he was very kind.

I can also pick up my prescriptions from here which is convenient. It would be better if when they are doing flu vaccines the appointment could be generated by them and not the patient as it's difficult to know when they are going to do them.

Last time I didn't get any noti ... fication.

Things have fallen apart. I have seen locum doctors here and it's not been good.

I have been referred to the hospital and I was told they could see no more patients so I chose to go private instead. It seemed I had no choice.

The GPs and hospital don't seem to speak to each other and there is no joined up thinking. No one is talking to anyone else.

There is no continuity of care.

Staff tell you they are doing as they are told but no one is listening to the people in the firing line, the ... patients

I can usually phone and get an appointment and if I need I will be offered an appointment the same day. Consistency can be a problem with who you see.

One doctor puts you on a path and then the next one says I wouldn't do that and they try something else and the treatment gets changed. I struggle with change.

The staff are very good, I've been coming here for many years and I'm happy.

Things don't seem to be working so well. I spoke to a doctor at length on a previous visit and another appointment was made to see them again.

When I turned up for the follow up visit it was with a different doctor even though I had been assured it would be with the one I saw before. Seeing a different doctor makes no sense.

I was also not as comfortable speaking to a female doctor on my second visit. I also asked the doctor today if they could look at my swollen foot and I was told I would ... have to make another appointment and come back.

They are making it difficult to see a doctor. It puts you off bothering.

There seems to be so many problems at the moment and everything seems to be falling apart.