Address: Market Street, East Harling, Norwich, NR16 2ADTelephone: 01953717204Website: www.eh-khsurgery.co.uk
Feedback
273 responses from the local community
Access is the problem
1
Submitted by collected by Healthwatch Norfolk staff4th May 2023
I have had appointments cancelled 24 hours before I was due to have the appointment, they don't make an alternative, and then when I call to rebook it is a 6 week wait. I am diabetic and I need my appointments. I work with a lot of older people and they struggle to get to the surgery and they can't get home visits. It is the access that is the problem, it is like beating my head against the wall. It takes such a long time to get anywhere and there is a lack of communication here - they don't tell you test results.
There are two people who work here who are brilliant - Nurse Practitioner David is BRILLIANT, sorted me out in one visit and Pauline is brilliant too I see her regularly she is very skilled.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff4th May 2023
Dave the nurse practitioner is great and the reception team are good even though they are under a lot of stress. Pauline is great and she is under a lot of pressure.
They do not do electronic prescriptions and the wait time is now 5 days from 3 and it is causing the staff at the pharmacy to get a lot of abuse.
The surgery has deteriorated since Covid with staff leaving and them struggling to recruit. It's gone from being great to poor. Getting through on the phone is torturous, you have to ring on the day at 8.30, I was on hold for 25 minutes to be told there was no appointments left, when I asked how many they had to start with they only had 5 over the two sites. I feel like if the phone line could be split into urgent must be seen today or urgent need to be in the next day or two it would work better. I am willing to go to either site and find Kenninghall a lot calmer, not sure if it's the building or just that this site is a lot busier.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff4th May 2023
There was mix up with my appointment today, I didn't have done what I thought I was having done so I am now off to Kenninghall tomorrow for another appointment. I had an asthma review today which was good as it was missed last year, I find it reassuring to be checked over. I didn't have to wait long for this appointment. I wish the receptionists would tell you their names when they speak to you on the phone as I don't recognise their voices and if you need to talk to them again or ask questions you don't know who you have spoken to. The wait for prescriptions is longer than it used to be. The practice manager is responsive though, he had responded to letters and is trying to get new doctors.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff4th May 2023
It's is hard to give this surgery an overall rating. If it was just for the practitioner that I choose to see (Dave the wonder nurse as we call him in our house)it would be 5 stars all the way as he is off the chart fantastic. You do have an assigned GP but you never get to see them, even though I am willing to travel between the two sites. Getting an appointment is such hard work. The receptionist are lovely and they are working as hard as they can and it's not there fault but you can see it's a bigger problem. I sent in a letter for a referral on the 10th March and they just sat in the in tray and I had to keep chasing for them to be dealt with. I was desperate to get my child an appointment to be seen but couldn't so we had to go to the walk in centre and then were sent to the CAU at the N&N, I can drive but a lot of people in the village don't. I find the whole thing very worrying.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff4th May 2023
It's hard to get through on the phone and a long wait to see a doctor if it's not urgent, but once you are in everything is good and the staff are helpful. They have been trying hard to sort out our covid passports.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff4th May 2023
There is just such a long wait to see a doctor. If you need something simple like an antibiotic cream the nurse cannot sort it and you have to wait a long time to see a doctor. I would like to see the same doctor so you do not have to start at the beginning each time but it never happens as they all seem to work part time.
A week or so ago I gave feedback (2 stars) on the issues I have had with the new IT systems and the lack of staff knowledge. Yes, patients should have been advised of the issues that would occur and Yes, the staff should have been made aware of them (too many comments about "I don't know anything about the new system"!) but I feel that I should balance my adverse comments in view of what I have found out and the service I have received recently.
Firstly, the reason my main prescription had dropped off the NHS app for repeat prescriptions is because the NHS has changed it to ensure you cannot order a repeat prescription less than 21 days after a previous order (you can request it if urgent by completing the box provided).
Everything is fine now but I do feel the staff (or at least the supervisor) should have known this.
Secondly I had reason to contact reception again this week when an infection I had previously been treated for re-occurred. I was allocated an appointment with a doctor the same day and received a new course of antibiotics and during the phone call and the subsequent visit the reception staff (and the doctor) were first class.
I am aware all the staff including the doctors have been working under a lot of pressure for some months now and some clinitions have had to put in some heroic shifts to cater for the demand (I thing East Harling has an elderly demograph and this cannot help). We are lucky to receive the level of service we currently have and should be grateful (I know some folk claim to have had a poor experience but I don't think this is typical.)
Give the staff time to get used to the new systems and to de-stress, constant complaining will only extend the issues and stressed out staff cannot give their best.
I've literally been deaf in one ear for three months. Have visited walk-in centres 20 miles away and waited on telephone lines for literally hours. All I need is a referral to Hear for Norfolk Centre so that they can clear my ear. One month for an appointment!!!!!!
I am well aware of the issues created by changing any organisations IT systems but I feel that the lack of knowledge and understanding at East Harling surgery has created an even greater problem than it should have done.
A few weeks ago my NHS phone app stopped communication with the surgery so I couldn't order any prescriptions, I visited the surgery reception and it seems the new computer system had locked me out so I had to re-load the app and this time it worked - except it had my old prescription dose which had been increased a few weeks previously! It turned out that the new IT system had my old prescription and the old system had my new prescription. OK I know the two were being manually updated (manual updates - sounds like a pretty primitive process to me) so I waited until my NHS app was updated a week later. I tried to use it today but was locked out of all prescription and health care history so I rang reception and spoke to a lady who admitted she knew nothing about computers but asked someone else who suggested I re-load the app after Easter. I tried the NHS app again a few minutes later and everything worked - except my most important prescription was not listed! I rang again and it was suggested I contacted Kenninghall surgery, 35 minutes later the call was answered by the same lady.... I asked to be put through to someone who could check my records but she insisted I needed to speak to prescriptions and transferred me only for the call to be cut off! I will not be ringing again, I will visit in person and hopefully find someone who has a basic understanding of how the computer system works and why my prescription had disappeared off the system - if that ties up reception it's not my problem.
I don't have any problems with organisations updating their systems and realise that the previous IT system was out of step with 90% of other surgeries but for the staff to be totally unaware of how to resolve these issues and are unable to get someone to call me back is very poor - come on East Harling Surgery, get your act together.