East Norwich Medical Partnership

Feedback

• Trying to get an appointment to see a doctor

  1

  Submitted by Hazel Hart 4th November 2022

  I have been trying to get an appointment to see a doctor for over a week. If I manage to get through on the phone there are no appointments left (for a call back from a doctor). When I tried really early the call queue was full and later no appointments again. I put my request through on the internet system on Monday, having heard nothing did it again Thursday - still nothing.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Mrs Hart, Thank you for your response which was posted on Friday 4th November. I have checked you records and seen you have been successful with booking a telephone consultation appointment for the following Tuesday with a doctor who then arranged a face-to-face appointment at the practice. Submissions via the practice website are for non-urgent enquiries and the practice will respond to these as soon as they are able. This does depend upon staffing levels and recently we have had several staff contracting COVID. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Asked to call the doctor

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 1st November 2022

  Asked to call the doctor at 1.30pm. Thought this was strange as I was certain that the phones were no answered between 1 - 2 pm due to lunch. Despite this I call at 1:30pm as asked and was as suspected presented with recorded message that the surgery was closed between 1 and 2 pm. Unfortunately, this is not untypical of the service you now get at Aslake Close practice.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback, I am unable to investigate further as I would require your details to ascertain how this request for you to contact the surgery is closed came about. If you wish to contact me via the complaints email address norwichccg.ENMP.complaints@nhs.net in greater detail, I would be happy to help. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Avoid at all costs

  1

  Submitted by Anonymous 27th October 2022

  On the whole the Drs are good too though one Dr is pretty stand offish and indifferent to concerns you may have - when we raised concerns about a potential cancer and whether or not we needed a referall, her response was 'well do you think it's urgent?' Not good. To be fair however, the nurses here are great ...if you can get past the receptionist to see one. This is the biggest issue, regardless of how good the practitioners are, this is irrelevant as it's near impossible to see one - In my experience, you can expect to wait around 90minutes to get through on the phone most of the time. The reason for this (and I've driven to the surgery whilst on hold to see if it was any quicker and watched this first hand) is that person answering the phone is taking a call, then doing some admin for a few minutes once they've finished the call before then answering the next. On this occasion two other members of staff were in the back looking at photos on each other's phones. If and when you do eventually get through, the person on the line is usually incredibly rude with a 'computer says no' attitude. Zero empathy, zero compassion. Save yourself the stress and believe me, it is stressful and go somewhere else. We loved this surgery when we moved to area in '17 but it's gone seriously downhill in the last few years unfortunately.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, I am sorry you are unhappy with the service provided by East Norwich Medical Partnership. Please contact me via the complaints email address giving me further details to enable me to investigate further norwichccg.ENMP.complaints@nhs.net Thank you for taking time speaking with Healthwatch when they visited the surgery at one of our flu clinics. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• If was rating the staff it would be 5 stars

  2

  Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff 19th October 2022

  Staff are good and look after you when you get in and if I was just rating the staff it would be 5 stars, but there is not a good chance of getting an appointment. Last time I tried I had to wait an hour on the phone to be told someone would call back. The phone reception is not good at my work so I ended up at the walk in centre where I had to wait 2 hours just to get a sample bottle and to be told I should of gone to the surgery. Feel pushed between the two.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for speaking with Healthwatch when they visited the surgery during one of our flu clinics. We have made changes to the phone system with the average wait of 15 minutes in the call queue at peak times. All GP appointments are telephone triaged by the doctor, should the doctor wish to see a patient face to face they will make an appointment at the time of the call either for the same day or another day to suit the patient. It would be unfair of me to comment on your decision to attend the Walk-In-Centre as I am unaware of the circumstances surrounding your visit. The Walk -In Centre is there to support general practice and are able to treat minor illness. Please accept my thanks on behalf of the staff at the practice for your kind words. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Everything is Fine

  4

  Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff 19th October 2022

  Everything is fine at this surgery, I have no problem and can always get an appointment. The staff are always very good and friendly.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for speaking with our colleagues from Healthwatch. We are pleased to hear you are happy with the service we provide and receive a positive experience with members of the practice team. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• On the whole very happy

  4

  Submitted by Jane Bailey Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff 19th October 2022

  On the whole I am very happy with the surgery. I do most of the stuff I have to do online as phoning is harder. They have dealt with my various health issues and I feel the staff look after me. I just wish the St Williams branch was manned better, it is not staffed well and I worry it will close.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Jane, Thank you for raising your concerns regarding our branch Surgery at Thorpe Health Centre. Please be assured that the practice is not intending to close this surgery. The reason the reception desk is not always open is due to shortage of receptionists. The practice has been advertising for staff for some months and to date we have not been able to fill the vacancies. Clinicians have continued to see patients at Thorpe Health Centre since the beginning of the pandemic, please request an appointment at this surgery when speaking with a receptionist or contacting the surgery online. When attending for appointments at Thorpe Health Centre please use the self-check in available at the entrance. Thank you for taking the time to speak with our Healthwatch colleagues. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Happy with the surgery

  5

  Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff 19th October 2022

  I am normally at St Williams way but being in the middle of them both it doesn't make a difference to me which branch I go to. I find it fine to get in and the staff are good when you come. I am happy with this surgery.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for speaking with our colleagues from Healthwatch. Thank you for your positive feedback regarding your experience when visiting either of our surgeries. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Sprowston better than the Thorpe branch

  4

  Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff 19th October 2022

  I normally go to St Williams way but it is not good at all due to the lack of staff there, you just can't get hold of anyone I would only give that branch 2 stars. This Sprowston branch is much better, the staff are really friendly, they are spot on and I would give them 5 stars. I do find it is difficult to get an appointment, it is hard to get through on the phone. The online system is okay but not very user friendly.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback to Healthwatch. Unfortunately, we are unable to man the reception desk at Thorpe Health Centre all the time due the difficulties we have recruiting new members of the reception team. We do have clinicians working from this surgery to enable those patients who have difficulty getting to Sprowston Surgery to be seen. Telephone calls for either surgery is arranged through the reception team at Sprowston, if your preferred surgery is Thorpe, please ask for an appointment at Thorpe when speaking to a receptionist. If you require a same day appointment with a doctor it would be a case of phoning at 8am. Same day doctor appointments are initially telephone consultations, and should the GP wish to see you face to face they will make an appointment. For general enquiries and routine appointments, it is better to ring later in the day. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• Been coming a long time

  4

  Submitted by Collected by a Healthwatch Norfolk member of staff 19th October 2022

  I have been using this surgery a long time and it is in a good location. I find it a efficient and the staff are very good and I have no problems and I feel well looked after. Phoning can be hard and there is a long wait on the phone at 8am. I always end up with phone appointments and I would preferer face to face ones, I do not really like the phone ones.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for raising your concerns with a member of the Healthwatch team, and for your kind words regarding the practice and its staff this is much appreciated. If your enquiry is not for a same day need, you may find it easier to get through to the surgery later in the day. The initial contact with a doctor is via a telephone consultation, the decision to see a patient face-to-face is based on clinical need. This is determined by the clinician at the time of the call. This will continue for the foreseeable future as COVID is still very much with us and we do need to protect our more vulnerable patients as well as members of the surgery staff. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

• They're under so much pressure

  5

  Submitted by collected by Healthwatch Norfolk staff 19th October 2022

  The Dr I have always seen is brilliant with me, I have had lots of bad stuff over the years, fantastic all staff are brilliant. There are two Drs who are awful and I would never see them if they're the only ones there I wouldn't go. I think the surgery is under so much pressure.

• Reply from East Norwich Medical Partnership

  Dear Patient, Thank you for your positive feedback regarding the treatment you have received by the practice. We are sorry to hear you are unhappy with two of the doctors who work at East Norwich Medical Practice without further information I am unable to comment. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager