Thurleigh Road Surgery Post Reply

[Helen 18]

Couldn't agree more. Thurleigh Road has gone from being excellent to totally inadequate. What on earth has gone wrong? I've been a patient for over twenty years and seen the decline.

[ElecticianNappValley]

I’ve had shocking experiences at the surgery last few years and have wonderful if it’s right they receive funding by our taxes when they aren’t fulfilling the service they are paid for - I was told by member of staff on reception at the last local election after being unable to get an appointment after ringing at 8 in the morning for 20-25 mins 3 days in row that if I wanted to see a doctor I needed to vote labour ! ! The phone system is a joke you are told to ring at 8am if want appointment, then you are on hold for 25 minutes with a message saying - your call is important to us - lol , the irony ! ! Then when you do eventually get through , you are told all the appointments are gone and you need to ring the next day at 8am ! 3 days of ringing and after an argument that I have rung every morning and keep getting told the appointments are gone , I was given a phone appointment. Then had appointment with doctor at 5.30 - got there 5.15 sat upstairs, was like a ghost town , nobody came in for the hour I was there , At 6.15 the doctor came out of a room , I was fuming she had kept me waiting 45 mins after the appointment time when she had been sitting in an empty room ! I understand why doctors used to be running late later in the day as appointments ran over but in my opinion there was absolutely no excuse for keeping me sitting there 45 mins after my appointment time when she was in an empty surgery room . The doctor I saw , was completely disinterested , gave me NO EXAMINATION and basically told me perhaps would be better going to A&E . I left there in complete shock of the service I received and no wiser to the problems I am still to this day experiencing - when people say save the NHS , I wonder what it is we are trying to save - it’s seems like the whole welfare state is crumbling , it makes you wonder what all the taxes are now for - I would love to turn the clock back to the 80s , great days ! !

[iowfan]

Chorister's point about rebranding receptionists is no joke - somehow they have already become the only contact point for triage at our formerly excellent practice, the only alternative being online triage which is not easy or even available for some people.  Why should patients have to explain their highly personal and potentially embarrassing symptoms to a totally unqualified gatekeeper who subtly makes them feel as though they have to beg for ten minutes with (or on the end of the phone to) a doctor?  This seems to be the case with all NHS practices now - shortage of GPs is undoubtedly a factor, but there's also a big element of hiding behind systems and bureaucracy, and the now totally irrelevant Covid restrictions.  I have an upcoming appointment which was the first one available, five weeks in advance - I feel so pathetically grateful to actually have one and to have the prospect of seeing a real live human doctor that I don't even dare name my GP practice in case I jinx it and/or find the appointment is suddenly cancelled!!  BTW, the doctors themselves at our practice always have been, and continue to be lovely people and excellent practitioners.

[Northcote Family]

I’ve just had an excellent experience with Thurleigh Rd Practice and getting an appointment!

Previously it has filled me with dread when I’ve needed to try to get an appointment and has felt like a losing battle.

However, today I used their appointment booking system which is available via the website ….
NVN won’t let me include the link to the form here but you need to go to the practice website, ‘book an appointment’ then ‘medical online enquiries’
…after submitting the form I received a text message with an appointment confirmation within 10 minutes and a call from a doctor within 20 minutes.

Apparently it is a fairly new system and is open between 8am and 10am unless demand is too high and then it closes earlier.

I would highly recommend using this form rather than calling as it’s much quicker and is less time restrictive (for me 8am is an almost impossible time to be making a phone call and waiting on hold).

Also, the practice website has massively improved recently and there is lots of information regarding the process for referrals etc.
From now on I will always navigate my way around the website rather than try to get information from the receptionists - although some are pleasant, most are not able to be of any help. I think many are new and not well informed…. and I agree that the original ones could be rude and scary.

Although demand is currently significantly outweighing NHS resources, my faith in accessing the excellent doctors at Thurleigh Rd Practice was restored today😊

[dudette]

I’m glad Northcote family had a good experience. I recently filled in one of those online forms and got a message saying a doctor would call me “in the next 48 hours.” No indication of when and obviously she phoned when I was working and had to turn my phone off. She said she’d try again but didn’t so I had to make another appointment the following week. It wasn’t particularly urgent so I’m sure they prioritise the ones that are but it would still be good to have a rough idea of when they might call.

[Balhamicvinegar]

Our family of four have all just left Thurleigh Road Practice after being with them for over 20 years after getting totally frustrated with the lack of service, it went downhill after Dr Peach retired in my opinion. We've had a very positive experience at our new surgery in Clapham.

[DazedandConfused]

Thurleigh Road GP Practice reputation is disastrous, and has plummeted since Dr Peach, Niki Salt et al left. The current crop of doctors seem totally disinterested in their patients, and appear to run the practice in a way that best supports their lifestyle. Consequently, they seem unphased by the mounting catalogue of complaints about the woeful service, dreadful patient experience, administrative incompetence (others have spoken about this), and staff behaviour (also commented on multiple times).

One fact that stands out is that:
- Of the 5 GP Partners listed on the website NOT ONE works full-time. 3 do 3 days a week, the other 2 just 2 days a week! Given this, the question is who's in charge?

[James02Marsh]

Unfortunately the new government rules pertaining to GP practices are the result you are now seeing. Funding is not the highest at Thurleigh Rd as it is seen as being a practice in an affluent area & thus I presume the government thinks we can all access our healthcare privately . Do not blame the doctors at the surgery, they are doing all they can with the cards that they have been dealt. Reception staff are difficult to keep as 'customers' are so rude & angry. As you will have gathered from the news there is a big shortage of GP doctors & it is now becoming very difficult to find full time doctors & also locums. Many feel they cannot do the job up to their own standards under the current system (especially not being able to see all patients face to face) & therefore have decided not to do the job at all.
You can always contact The Minister for Health or your MP but I don't hold much hope that they will/can do anything - suggestions anyone?
 

[muddyboots]

It’s very frustrating and disappointing to deal with them. Agree, feels like a different place now. It’s as if they don’t want patients at all. Since covid it’s all gone down hill. As if patient are not expected to be seen in person at all.

I recently walked in when my child had an emergency, nobody was around to help, so had to go to St George’s.

Where gave people moved to?
What are the options for SW11 residents ?

[Keithbeckingham]

Terrible terrible place. Avoid if you can!

God help the sick and infirm with a place like this. Response seems to be “call 111 … don’t call us!” every step of the way.

Incompetence in getting in the bookings in. I got through to someone after 1hr of waiting and the receptionist said “it will be a zoom booking and then out the phone down without asking my name”. I called back and they said “We have no record of you. Call the appointment line again”.

See the reviews … all suggests bad administration. NHS is well funded and we are outside of winter flu period. Other surgeries are excellent and Thurleigh is just managed by people who let the side down.

Change management and get some competence in! Don’t just say “sorry we had this experience” to every single google review !

Meanwhile, I am paying £250 for a private consultation. I am very old and getting ill. Can’t afford much more of this !

Keith

[Kat15]

Thurleigh Road Practice have now said they will not accept emails, and you cannot either book an appointment by phone or online (as previously even though often there were only slots 6 weeks in advance, or sometimes none at all). Instead you have to fill in a very short and inadequate 'triage' form sent to your phone and wait 2 days... to receive a link which gives you long slots of time (a week from booking) in which a clinician will call you, at some unspecified point - good luck picking up the phone! - to... ask you for more information about what you want to book your appointment for, and then, hopefully, book an appointment, although I haven't even got to that stage yet. I want to weep. I'm only trying to book a in follow up that my GP already told me to book in. I honestly don't think anyone could make this up - although guess they want people to pay for their private services through making their NHS services so horrendously inaccessible. They shouldn't be allowed to have an NHS contract if they make it so hard for people in the local community to access NHS services.

[Labellalavanderina]

I am sorry to hear people are having bad experiences. For our family the introduction of the new online form has massively improved the situation compared to earlier in the year, when it was extremely difficult to get appointments, especially if needing to be on the tube between 7.30 and 8.30.

Now the online form allows one to describe the issue, attach any relevant pictures, say who has seen you before for the problem and when not to call. We had two significant issues for my son recently, both were addressed the same day through a phone call within a few hours of submitting the form, and then the doctor saw him in person that evening. Given the extremely limited funding the practice gets, I am delighted they have found a way to triage that means that (at least in our experience) really urgent things can be addressed same day, rather than the lottery of dialling in at precisely the right moment.