I dislike not being able to see the same doctor on the majority of visits. I accept if it's an emergency that you may have to see someone different but for continuity I think it is beneficial for one doctor to know their patients. I visited the surgery on multiple occasions over a period of 3-4 years with the same leg pain, each time seeing someone different & was repeatedly told it was a muscle strain. Then I was blue lighted into hospital with pulmonary embolisms caused by a DVT which had been the most likely cause of my leg pain according to the hospital. I was extremely lucky not to have died and only through the promptness of work colleagues am I here to talk about it.
I was diagnosed with cancer which resulted in an operation. I had to chase the doctors for my medication i.e cancer tablets, they had a letter from hospital advising which tablet I should be on it took 2 weeks after my op before I got my prescription. Adenbrooks wrote to my doctors advising my prescription for angeoadema, it seems if you don’t chase you have to wait and hope someone will see what’s in the in tray, or emails. If you put in bp recordings you have to chase to get them to read them, it’s simply not good enough, they need to be more on the ball, fortunately I don’t go to the doctors that often. They do need to be more on the ball with administration.
Doctors appointments are almost impossible to get. The girls that answer the phone seem to have a script aimed at stopping you seeing a doctor. I'm normally told that there are no appointments or to callback first thing the next morning, only to be told that there are still no appointments! I last time I was told to go to A&E for a swollen knee. Upon arrival A&E were fuming that the gp hadn't seen me as it could've been dealt with there. Pre Covid the surgery was very good. Since the pandemic began it has got progressively worse with no signs of improvement.
I have not been able to see a doctor face to face for months. On speaking to receptionists it’s always “we only have emergency appointments “ , so I say ‘it’s not an emergency but I wish to see a doctor’ then it’s “there are no routine slots available, try tomorrow “ and round it goes again, day in day out.
I also don’t get why they insisted on allocating people to a particular gp then say that gp hasn’t got any appointments It’s 2 years since I have seen ‘my’ gp
The access to GPs is non-existant. I am a cancer patient. If I have any worries I now telephone the hospital direct as I get nowhere at Long Stratton. It is IMPOSSIBLE to see a GP. I wanted to speak to a GP recently with a quick question about medication. After much discussion I got a phone call back from a ‘paramedic’ who didn’t know the answer anyway. I then had to book a phone call 10 days in advance! And if that wasn’t bad enough they never called on the day. When I chased it up a couple of days later I was told they’d been off sick yet no-one called me to tell me. My GP has changed at least 4 times in 3 years but I never get told, so when I fill in forms I am unknowingly giving the name of a non-existent GP. I currently have no idea who my named GP is! Last week my husband phoned to make an appointment for a phone call, and he was told he couldn’t even make an appointment because it was the wrong time of day. Apparently you can now only make appointments (even for phone calls) if you phone first thing in the morning and potentially wait on the phone for up to half an hour. I find talking on the phone difficult anyway. Before the pandemic I could go online and book to see someone (even then it was rarely my named doctor) Now that option has been removed. In 2020 a relapse of cancer was undiagnosed because nobody saw it. I tried to stress that with my medical history it needed to be seen. I ended up showing it to a consultant in London whilst at a routine appointment and they referred me straight to the NNUH where it was discovered I also had cancer in 2 other places. When I was originally diagnosed in 2018 I repeatedly saw locum GPs, who fobbed me off with ‘menopause’ One even tried to refer me for alternative therapies. It turned out this delay of several months meant that by the time the cancer was discovered it was stage 4. I am now physically disabled permanently. THIS ‘SERVICE’ IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE! The only reason I have given a star is because the receptionists are always helpful and polite
Despite covid restrictions, Swan Lane Surgery continued to dispense prescriptions. Recently, I contacted them about some vague symptoms: they were ready to speak to me on the phone and then in person, gave me blood and other tests and examinations without stinting or question. On one occasion a gp spent 25 minutes with me. Within weeks of my first consultation I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. I can't praise and thank the staff enough for their time and compassion.
Impossible to get an appointment with your gp. Often phone calls which are not always suitable for you and the reason you rang to see them. But very supportive in other areas.
I will do everything I can to avoid making contact with this surgery as previous experiences are so poor - impossible to get through on the phones and appointment times are ridiculous and when I did get an appointment I was then just referred to a third party three weeks to just get a different telephone number (I ended up going private)
None of the doctors suppliers can get my medication, so they print up a medication slip and I have to drive elsewhere to get my medication, this is usually norwich or attleborough are the doctors going to pay for my extra fuel chasing around out of my doctors surgery area to source my medication. Why can other pharmacies get it? But not my own doctors surgery. This is an absolute disgrace. This has been going on for 4 months or more. The dispensary blame it on their suppliers not being able to get it, maybe change their suppliers is the answer. I would be stuck indoors not able to go out if I couldn’t get this medication, what a life I ask myself would I lead. Something really needs to be done, what with the cost of petrol at the moment, do I need extra journeys? (NO I DON’T) I have to go to the surgery to pick up my other meds, then off to another town to find my other meds. Why is it so hard for them to be able to get my 2 meds together? Nightmare situation. Really not happy about this. Good job I’m not elderly with no means of getting elsewhere to pick up meds the surgery claim they can’t source, but I can get elsewhere.
I have had a few visits to the hospital who have informed the surgery what has been going on. I was discharged to Swan Lane surgery and notes sent. This was confirmed to me over the phone, the hospital also informed the surgery of my ongoing medication, the surgery then said the medication would be available after a telephone consult.. three maybe four months later and still no call, meaning no medication. It’s all ointments but that is besides the point! They are supposed to be professional and provide a service.
Is it down to me to keep chasing having made two calls already?