East Norwich Medical Partnership

Feedback

• Wrong diagnosis

  1

  Submitted by Collected at a Healthwatch Norfolk Event 25th October 2021

  I lost my wife a year ago due to being refused a doctors appointment face to face. She was given antibiotics over the phone and them was told she had IBS. It ended up being liver cancer and she died. The same doctor also told me I had IBS but was wrong again and I ended up needed surgery. I have asked to see the doctor for an explanation but have been refused. I now see a different doctor at the surgery. I do have to say I can not fault the receptionists or the nurses.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient Thank you for your feedback via the Healthwatch team. I am sorry to hear of your experiences, please contact me at the surgery in writing to enable me to look in more detail at the points you have raised. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Long wait on the phone

  4

  Submitted by Collected at a Healthwatch Norfolk Event 25th October 2021

  I am not on the internet and do not have a mobile phone so I have to call the surgery on my landline and it can take a long time for the call to be answered but this is the only problem I have with the surgery. The nurse at the flu clinic was lovely, they took my blood pressure at the same time which was a little high so they have booked in an appointment for a blood test. It was good to have this all done today to save on having to ring to arrange it.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for taking the time to answer Healthwatch questions. On behalf of the practice, I would like to say thank you for your positive comments, which will be shared with the practice team. It is lovely to receive such kind words which are always appreciated, particularly whilst we are working through the pandemic and the additional work this has entailed. We have very recently made amendments to the telephone system which has improved the wait in the telephone queue. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Can’t get through

  1

  Submitted by Tim Tickner 19th October 2021

  Have tried to get through to surgery for 3 Days to ask about my wife and vulnerability as she has had a letter, if I send a message they get back in 4/5/6 days if u are lucky my son has applied as new patient this was over 2 months ago!

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Mr Tickner Thank you for your comment, having checked your records and your wife’s I have noticed that appointments have since taken place for you both. Should you wish to discuss further I can be contacted via the practice complaints email address. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Pointless

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 18th October 2021

  Always wait over 30 minutes - 1 hour in a phone queue to get cut off once answered. Used the “interactive website” to send a message. Before submitting you have to tick that it’s not urgent and can take 2 days for a response. I sent my message weeks ago and still no response. Been into the surgery with no appointment and was almost turned away before standing my ground and was dealt with straight away by a lady who couldn’t have done much more for me! Majority of the staff at the reception are talking about their personal lives, no wonder the phone isn’t being answered or cut off at the end. Genuinely no excuse for this behaviour.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Anonymous, We are very sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with the service provided. Indeed, the phone system is very busy with approx. 500 calls being dealt with daily. As this is the main contact into the surgery during this pandemic, there is a wait on the phone system. The surgery has not returned to ‘business as usual’ to protect vulnerable patients and staff. The practice has been short staffed due to COVID and annual leave, this also impacts on the telephone system and website responses. When the practice is particularly short staffed the priority is answering the telephone. Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Dreadful practice

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 12th October 2021

  Sat on hold in a queue for 40mins. Told I would get a call back for my son. 4 hours later, nothing. Tried to call the surgery again only to be put into another queue. Lack of face to face is appalling. NHS guidelines now state that GPS must offer face to face rather than telephone triage if that is the patients preference (ensuring they do not have Covid-19 symptoms). This practice is seemingly still using Covid-19 as an excuse not to see face to face patients where possible. The only plus is that both times I have had to call them in recent months, is that the reception staff were very polite and helpful.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Anonymous, I am sorry you experienced a disappointing service from the practice. Due to the current standard operating procedures adhered to by the practice which is set by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, all patients wishing to see a GP are telephone triaged to assess the need for a face to face appointment. Telephone triaging has been in place since the beginning of the pandemic and patients have been and still are being seen face to face should the clinician agrees there is a clinical need. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• No one answer the phone

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 7th October 2021

  Sat in the phone queue for 50 mins got to first in the queue 15 mins before 6.00pm and phone just kept ringing and telling me to please hold the line. Ended give up once totally time waiting hit over the hour mark. Really needed to speak to someone

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Anonymous, Please accept my apologies for this error on our part. Practice does close at 6pm however all calls should be answered before the reception team leave the building. I have passed a copy of your complaint to the practice Staff Manager to speak with those concerned. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Telephone system is dreadful

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 6th October 2021

  Shockingly difficult to get through on phone at various times of day. Wait in queue get to 1 in queue then rings for 15 minutes with no connection. There is something very wrong with the administration at this Partnership.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Anonymous Due to the current standard operating procedures put in place by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social care for a total triage of all patients who wish to be seen has placed quite a strain on our telephone system. We shall investigate the points you have raised. Please accept my apologies on behalf of the practice Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Still cannot see a doctor

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 6th October 2021

  I was stung by a wasp on Sunday pm close to the eye. By Tuesday my eye had closed up and fluid spreading to the rest of my face. After reading the NHS site they said if this happened contact your GP straight away. Went into the pharmacy next door to check before contacting a GP and they supported the NHS website and said I should see a GP straight away. Walked into the GP reception explained what had happened. Told that I could not see a GP and would have to wait for a GP telephone consultation. The other option was to go to the walk in Center in the city or A&E, as things were getting worse by the hour had no option but to drive to the walk in centre. The person I met there said I had a major reaction to the sting and was concerned if untreated could spread to the respiratory area which would be very serious. They prescribed a strong antihistamines & antibiotics, the GP practice should really be seeing people now rather than keep sending people to the walk in Center or A&E. Telephone consultation are a waste of time and in my case would have delayed treatment which could have had a serious impact on my health.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Anonymous Due to the current COVID situation the practice is not seeing patients face to face without being first triaged by telephone. Since the beginning of the pandemic the practice has continued to remain open to allow patients access to clinical services where appropriate. The practice is working under the directive of NHS England and The Department of Health and Social Care and abide by the Standard Operating Procedures for general practice. This means that all patients requesting to see a GP will be offered a telephone appointment in the first instance, some patients may be referred directly to the pharmacy or WIC at their first contact with the practice. Face to face appointments are booked by the clinician after an assessment of clinical need and deemed appropriate. Protecting our vulnerable patients and staff is our top priority. I am sorry you had such a reaction to the wasp sting and hope you are making a good recovery. I checked the NHS site where it does say contact your GP or call NHS 111 for advice. For a severe reaction such as a swollen face to dial 999. If we are unable to speak or see patients at the surgery, we will offer an alternative which we did in this case by suggesting the WIC. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Joke wait times

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 4th October 2021

  Was on hold after having my daughters appointment cancelled this morning for 1.16mins to be cut off for lunch called back dead on 2 number 4 in queue got to number one and cut off again! Messaged for online help which says can take up to two days for a reply the whole service is a joke!

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Anonymous Thank you for your feedback we will look further into the concerns you have raised regarding the telephone system. The online service is for non-urgent enquiries and we would recommend persevering with the telephone should you require more urgent support. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Terrible Service

  1

  Submitted by Rosalie Dodd Jones 27th September 2021

  Our family recently moved up to Norfolk and registered with this practice. Over the past few months I have personally generated several eConsults where I have either had no response, or an email weeks later advising me there are no appointments for that day and to call 111 if symptoms continue out of hours. Today I chased an eConsult I submitted on 13/09/2021. After several calls this morning and having an automated message advising me the call queue was full and to ring back later, I was finally placed 29th in the queue and waited an hour and a half to finally speak to member of staff. For this one occasion, they have apologised and arranged for a GP ringback for this afternoon. I have the upmost respect for primary care and completely empathise with the pressures the staff are under, but I think the way this practice is currently being run is quite frankly dangerous (evidenced by the multiple complaints already seen on this forum). I have absolutely no faith in this practice, and have previously resorted to attending walk in centres, calling 111 and taking my one year old daughter directly to A&E for concerns that I would have previously contacted my GP for. Communication should be at the forefront of gold standard patient care, and it is absolutely shocking at this practice. When I have been successful at obtaining some form of clinical consultation, the care received has been good. This is a poorly run and poorly managed practice and I will be contacting the CQC regarding my concerns for patient safety. I am lucky enough to have some clinical knowledge to safety net my own family, but what I also have is time to push things when necessary. I do also understand that I am a minority, and I am genuinely worried that other patients may suffer at the hands of this colossal mismanagement. If it really is just a case of lack of staffing at an administrative level then this must absolutely be rectified and the practice need to take responsibility for this.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Mrs Dodd-Jones, Thank you for taking the time to write regarding your experience since registering earlier this year with the practice. As this is a public forum I do not wish to go into too much detail regarding your personal details, I can confirm you have contacted the surgery several times via the practice website out of the four submissions received and actioned, three resulted in telephone triage appointments one of which was not answered by the patient, one advised to ring surgery due to the delay of 10 days in response to the submission (Aug). Through August the practice did have difficulties in responding to the website submissions due to staff shortages, (annual leave, contracting COVID, NHS App pinging). Therefore, the practice made the decision to prioritise the answering of the telephone. As the surgery is still currently following the directive of NHS England and Department of Social Care standard operating procedures for general practice. Who advise total triage for all patients wishing to be seen, this does place a demand and delay on calls into the practice: we currently manage approx 550 calls a day. We are sorry to hear of your disappointment with the current level of service and can only apologise for the frustration you have experienced. We will continue to follow the standard operating procedures outlined above for the foreseeable future. Protecting our vulnerable patients and staff is our top priority. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager