Sheringham Medical Practice
Feedback
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Unable to pre-book a nurse practitioner appt
26th April 2023Really disappointing that I'm unable to pre-book a nurse practitioner appt for a day/time that you now you can get there for. The only thing they can offer is an emergency appt on the day if you can get through at 8am which is really not helpful when you work Mon-Fri and are unable to leave your workplace during working hours. They really do make it difficult for patients to get any sort of help they need. The NHS is in a terribly bad state
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Reply from Sheringham Medical Practice
We welcome patient feedback as a means of helping us improve patient services. We also maintain a policy of continuous improvement which means that our systems are subject to regular reviews to see if we can refine our approach to deliver enhanced patient care. To enable the practice to respond to your concerns could you please contact our Practice Manager by email: sheringham.managers@nhs.net or by phone 01263 820512. If you prefer you can also contact our patient participation group who would be happy to discuss your concerns email sheringhamppg@gmail.com. -
Well-oiled machine in case of emergency
1st November 2022After having spent five days ill in bed due to an episode of acute gastritis, I contacted the practice on a Monday morning (their busiest day) using a contact form. In under less than two hours I had a call from Dr Smith, the senior partner. He was absolutely amazing and exactly what I expect from a GP. He was very thorough and took plenty of time to discuss my condition. He gave me his full attention and, as I’ve had this problem before, decided together with me on the best treatment based on my previous experiences. I prefer a straightforward, no-nonsense approach and Dr Smith did exactly that. He even referred me for help with mental health issues, including stress management. I am extremely grateful for his help. I am also grateful to the admin team for recognising the urgency of my problem and the dispensary team for their help later in the week. I had lost my trust in the GP who took over my care in July and trivialised my well-documented medical history. His behaviour and a worrying catalogue of errors had caused me so much stress that it was partly responsible for the gastritis flare-up and I was considering making a formal complaint. However, as a result of the way I have been treated by Dr Smith and due to the fact that I have to avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety, I shall let him off the hook and just avoid him in the future. Well done to all involved!
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Growing concerns about new GP partner
20th October 2022Until recently I have had no reason to complain about this practice. I have always received excellent care from the doctors. Nurses and admin staff are always friendly and professional. The only minor problem is that I don't always get a response to the online contact form, where they promise a same-day reply (this happened twice). I've been under the care of a new GP since the two doctors who were previously responsible for my care left. Ever since my first appointment things have gone wrong and I have a list of concerns as long as my arm. A month ago this doctor asked me a question via e-mail. The link that was provided to reply didn't alllow me to respond so I had to write a letter, which I posted through the practice letterbox on 2 October. On 14 October I rang the practice to see if my letter had indeed arrived; I was told that it had been scanned in but that the document had not yet been opened by the doctor. A week later, I still haven't heard from him. The letter deals with a number of well-known mental health problems that, as a result of being ignored, have become more intense. This had led to physical symptoms: digestive problems, high blood pressure and pulse, gastritis, daily migraines, etc. I can't understand why this is happening. You can't ask a patient a question and then ignore their response completely. It's not only disappointing but also very frustrating and dangerous for the patient's health.
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No respect for their elderly patients!
5th October 2022The recent changes to the practice have only been announced on the practice website and via Facebook. The staffing page (doctors & clinical team) on the website has not been updated. The population of their catchment area is predominantly elderly and a large part of these patients are not familiar with modern technology and do not access the internet. I have spoken to quite a few of them recently and they were shocked to hear of the change in partners and the departure of their named doctors. This has caused some serious concerns and I cannot understand why this practice hasn't written to their elderly patients to inform them of the news and alleviate some of their worries. On another note, they do not seem to respond to messages left on their contact form. Even though you're told that it will take two days before you will receive a response, in many cases they don't reply at all. This has happened not just to me but to other patients as well.
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Practice in big trouble!
24th September 2022Nurses and receptionists, both on the desk and on the phone, are doing an excellent job. However, the doctors are a massive problem. They currently have 3 partners; not one of them works full time and two are coming up to retirement age. Until a few months ago, they employed two very good and caring doctors but these have left to join other practices and are greatly missed by the patients. They have no salaried GPs at all but use at least 3 locums at considerable cost. A vacancy for a salaried GP has been on their website for more than a year. Neighbouring practices don’t have problems attracting GPs, so the problem must lie with the management. During the hot summer they couldn’t even be bothered to put a fan in the boiling-hot waiting room. The atmosphere doesn’t feel right. I have only been treated by one of the locums but am not very impressed with the care received. Appointments to have a blood test are now done in house but require a 3-week wait. Something needs to be done urgently!
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Reply from Sheringham Medical Practice
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback about your experience of Sheringham Medical Practice. We are sorry to hear that you have concerns about service delivery and would like to offer clarification on certain points which we hope will provide some reassurance. We are always happy to receive feedback and learn from it and to discuss individual patient concerns with patients who approach us directly, in order to promote understanding and obtain the best possible outcomes. At present the practice has three full time Partners, has just welcomed a new full time Salaried GP to the team and is in ongoing discussions with other prospective GP Partners. Pending successful recruitment, the practice has had to rely on the services of locums to maintain GP appointment capacity, but we have sought to work consistently with doctors who are already familiar with the practice and patients and with long-term locums, to support positive patient experience. We accept that this is not ideal but have had very positive feedback about some of our locum GPs and hope to achieve a full complement of permanent doctors at the practice very soon. We are sorry if you have had a negative experience of care during this period. With regards to the provision of a fan for the waiting room, it is not something that we would routinely provide, given the size and open plan aspect of the area. However, since Covid, the use of fans has been in general discouraged as they assist the movement of air and could promote the circulation of viral droplets. We are very sorry that you felt this to be unsupportive of patient welfare during the hot weather. However, we did provide information and advice via text and Social Media to our patient population about managing during the hot weather, including precautionary measures and self-care steps to take. The practice recently assumed responsibility for Phlebotomy provision for its patients and provides a blended system that allows for Urgent Bloods to be booked within a shorter timeframe and Routine Bloods currently booking approximately three weeks ahead. The service was planned and implemented based on last year’s Blood Test figures plus a percentage uplift but demand has recently increased to levels higher than planned so waiting times are currently slightly longer and this is something we are reviewing and seeking to address. We understand that it can be worrying for patients to have to wait long periods to have a blood test and will be looking to manage appointment lead times accordingly in the future. We hope this response is helpful and provides some reassurance on the points raised. -
Telephone hours on website!
2nd August 2022On this website you advise that telephone hours are 9am-5pm. On calling, it seems that telephone hours are only between 9am-12pm; or 2-5pm .. hugely frustrating and false information.
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Reply from Sheringham Medical Practice
Thank you for your feedback. We welcome patient feedback as a means of helping us improve patient services. We also maintain a policy of continuous improvement which means that our systems are subject to regular reviews to see if we can refine our approach to deliver enhanced patient care. Following your feedback we have reviewed our website and phone message to ensure that the information available is clear and correct on our website and phone message. To confirm our general enquiry line is open from 8:00am-18:30pm, however the Dispensary and Secretarial Team are available from 9:00am-12:00pm 14:00 - 17:00. I hope that my explanations address the concerns you raised. We always aim to provide a high standard of service and very much welcome patient feedback to inform learning and improvement. On behalf of Sheringham Medical Practice, I would like to assure you that we take the provision of quality services very seriously. This can be a very complex equation with a patient population of over 9,000 and a diverse range of needs that can differ significantly from one day to the next. However, this does not mean that we do not continuously strive for improvement and to deliver the best possible patient care. Pauline Craske Practice Manager Sheringham Medical Practice Telephone number 01263 820502 -
Time with the doctor is too short
30th June 2022I find that appointment times are not long enough. When I eventually go to see a doctor I went with a list and was told I hopes it's not too long as you only have 10 minutes. The receptionist are friendly but can be a bit vague on the phone.
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Love the online system
30th March 2022I've found it hard to get an appointment that fits my schedule as due to my work situation I can't wait around for a doctor to call me. I do love the online system. I think it's amazing and it has made things so much easier.
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A Consultation With The GP
26th January 2022We hear so many negative stories about being unable to have a face 2 face meeting with a GP. I just wanted to share I had a consultation with Dr Ward at the Sheringham Medical Centre today, whom I hadn't met previously. I'd like to report what a positive experience I had. Dr Ward was charming, engaging, helpful and professional. A welcome addition for patients and staff at the medical centre. Many thanks.
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about an appointment
23rd January 2022on 21st jan call about a problem which i had been to a and e 2 days earliertold to at 11.30 after sitting there for 30mins waiting girl on desk told me both dr i was going to see where held up and i had to wait 10 mins to see someone elseafter another 35 min said dr came though and said o you are here and i said i booked in at 20 past 11 and this was now12.30she said that i hadnt booked in went into her room where i told her what was wrong where it then felt like she punched me in the back to find out if i was in pain which nearly put me on the floor so with that was told to what and see what happen not very happy
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