Address: Market Street, East Harling, Norwich, NR16 2ADTelephone: 01953717204Website: www.eh-khsurgery.co.uk
Feedback
273 responses from the local community
Staff are lovely but there is not enough of them
3
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff16th April 2024
Staff are lovely when you get to talk to them and will do anything they can to help and are polite. But, there is just not enough of them and they can not cope with the demand. They have told us that they should only have 5000 on the books but have 9000. It's very frustrating if you are going through ongoing treatment and the hospital tell you, you need blood tests and injections on certain days, as you can not book in too far in advance and you have a job getting in when you need it. They had to get a nurse out of retirement to help out. I did have a doctor booked in to do an injection but he got someone else to do it as he didn't feel confident in doing it so managed to get someone else to do it.
It's the partners making things difficult which is why people leave.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff16th April 2024
The reception staff are polite and friendly when I popped in today but they lose too many good staff.
Been trying for an appointment for 6 weeks. I missed a call back and told they would not phone me back.
I have come down today but can't get an appointment for 17 days but I can't book that one as I am away but I can't book it for when I am back as that is too far in advance and their books are not open for then.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff16th April 2024
In the past it was very good but now we find it nearly impossible to see a clinician. If you phone in the morning all the appointments have gone, I have tried to get an appointment today and there is nothing for 3 weeks and then you can't book beyond that.
We have private health insurance but we can't claim on it without a referral from the surgery. We saw an advanced practitioner who said he was going to refer my daughter so I went ahead and booked her in privately only to get a text later to say that he had changed his mind.
You also get conflicting information, I paid privately for my daughter to have her chicken pox immunisation, one person said they could not update her red book and someone else has just done it.
We have resulted to ending up in A&E and the walking centre.
We are trying to take the pressure off the system by using our private insurance but without the referrals we can't .
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff16th April 2024
2 years ago they were brilliant with my husband when he was dying of cancer, but now is totally different.
I came in as I am not doing well since my husband has gone, I have lost weight and I am worried there is something wrong with me. I got an appointment and they just looked on the computer and said your blood in November were fine, just take the antidepressants, they were very dismissive and didn't want to know that I didn't want to take them.
I feel like I am getting nowhere fast, you phone in the morning and all the appointments have gone, I feel like you are not listened to and you never see the same doctor twice, you just can't talk to anyone.
I had an appointment to see a bereavement specialist here but after waiting over an hour and not being called in I checked with reception and they said, he's not here, we forgot to text you to let you know.
I feel so let down.
Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff15th April 2024
In the past I have always liked this surgery, I have been coming since 1996.
It's is now hard to see a doctor though.
I like all the people but it has gone downhill and there is no continuity in care.
I am a carer for my wife and it sometimes feel like they have forgotten about her.
I personally felt that seeing a nurse is not the same as seeing a doctor as they only look at the one thing not the overall picture.
I do understand that there is a limit to the amount of people they can see, but I just do not have the confidants in them I once had. I used to be able to phone if I was worried and a doctor would call me back that day but they just doesn't happen any more.
I find myself leaving things I should really should get checked out but just can't be bothered to go through the hassle of trying.
On Monday, 25th of March I was very poorly with a chest infection and knew I needed antibiotics – I rang at 8.30 but by the time I got through all the face to face appointments had gone – I was advised the doctor would call me – I had a quick shower to try and feel better and during that time the doctor rang – approx. 9.15 – as I live so close to the surgery I quickly went over but was told that the doctor would only try and ring once and I would have to try again the next day. I went home and called 111 – they were extremely helpful but said through surgery opening hours they could only direct me back to there – they advised to go back and say I needed to be seen within the hour – this I did but was told the 111 information had gone to the doctor and he would call me – by 3.30 I still had not heard anything – I called 111 again as I was feeling very unwell and they called the doctor while I was on the phone. I received an appointment for 5 minutes time – went straight back to the doctor but as I walked through the door a cancellation of the appointment came through on my phone and another one saying the doctor would call me. As I was in the surgery I spoke to the receptionist (a different one from the morning) and she was absolutely lovely – she said she didn’t know why the doctor had cancelled the appointment and went in to see him to ask him to see me – there was no-one in the surgery waiting and there was no-one in with the doctor but she came out from his office apologising profusely and saying that he had refused to see me and would call. This is despite 111 saying it was urgent that I was seen and actually in the surgery???!!!!
He eventually called at 5.20 and the call lasted about 2 minutes if that and he prescribed antibiotics – in the past I have always been prescribed a steroid puffa as well to help with the breathing but he did not give me a chance to ask or talk about anything. I am still short of breath and coughing now but cannot cope with the thought of trying to go back.
I am autistic and have adhd. Making phone calls is difficult as it is. I popped into the surgery two weeks ago hoping to book an non-emergency appointment at some point in the future. The receptionist was hostile and patronising, telling me my only options were to call at 8:30 (when I am always driving my kids to school) or go to Norwich to the walk in centre (which I would find difficult to access for a number of reasons) and I walked out crying. Today I finally called at 8:30 as the kids aren't at school after waiting weeks for the chance to do so, and there were no appointments at 08:32. I kept trying and still at 9:30 the phone just says no appointments available and there is no option to speak to reception. My whole family needs to see a dr for one reason or another and it's just impossible to see anyone. At one point I was even advised to get the toddler to call in for me whilst driving!
I have now been told we have to go on a waiting list for an appointment what is it all coming too gone are the days when you could just walk into the surgery and be seen straight away.The whole system is rubbish the partners need to sort it out . Yesterday i took a sample in and was told they couldn't accept it as there was no nurse but i could take it to Kenninghall luckily I can drive but what about the people who have no transport.GET IT SORTED OUT.
On December 9th 2023 I went for an appointment regarding my son needing an ADHD and ASD referral as requested from an Educational Psychologist and my son's school as well as my concerns as a Mother. I gave the doctor a significant amount of evidence such as an Educational Psychologists report, a letter regarding his behaviour from his school, a letter from his social worker and much more. The doctor agreed that a referral was needed and she saw the urgency in my plea due to my son being out of school for a long and continued period plus the violent outbursts that myself and my daughter were and still are experiencing. I gave her the required paperwork and questionnaires and even the website that it needed to be uploaded to. All she had to do was upload 2 documents and put her name and the date, that was it. Since then I have frequently chased this referral as I knew it wasn't being done straight away as my appointment was on a Saturday and she said she would do it on the following Monday as it was her day off so she shouldn't have been there anyway. I have been given numerous different answers by different receptionists; I have been told that the referral was made at the beginning of February, I have been told that the doctor who dealt with the referral had been poorly then been in an accident then had caught covid. I was very sympathetic and very understanding. I got told it had been given to a different doctor then I was told the secretary could do it on the doctor's behalf. Fast forward to the 4th March 2024 and after having no correspondence from the assessment providers I thought I would double check the exact date it was referred so I could chase said provider. To my astonishment, the referral still hasn't been made and no one can give me a straightforward answer. No apology has been made just that the referral will be made when a doctor is next available. I have chased and waited for 12 weeks for absolutely nothing! The wait for these assessments is at least 25 weeks and now I have to start this process all over again. All the while my son is still struggling and is still out of school. I am appalled at this situation. A referral that would have taken no more than 5 minutes has taken 3 months and hasn't even been made.
Submitted by Joyce Welsord- Feedback collected by Healthwatch Norfolk staff28th February 2024
I tried calling the practice and have had trouble getting through. It took me 20 minutes to get through by phone. I was discharged by the hospital but can't get the medication I need from the GP. I need a particular medication for my condition but was told I would have to wait and see a doctor before getting it but they did not have any appointments today and do not want to wait weeks for it. There are no regular GPs and there is no urgency from the surgery. This makes you feel vulnerable.