High Street Surgery, Lowestoft Feedback Centre 2020

Mental health appointment

July 24, 2023

I have needed my mental health appointment with the mental health Nurse for the last weeks and I wasn't told that they were off! I do not do online services that they want me to attend as its impersonal and I feel the timings are just rubbish for me. All I have been given so far is the information on the 'wellbeing' support in the community.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for your feedback, I would like to discuss the concerns you have raised further. Please contact the practice on 01502 589151 or email on nwicb.highstreetdoctor@nhs.net.
Kind regards
Sharni Rhodes
Operations Manager
High Street Surgery

Takes a while to ring

July 24, 2023

It can be frustrating that you ring bang on 8am and you still take quite some time to get down the queue only to be told all appointments are gone.
I do not do 'online' so the phone is my only option. Once I get an appointment it can be a few days in a row that I have had to try. The clinical staff are pleasant and listen well to concerns. I have not seen a GP for some time, and sometimes I do feel I would like to for more worrying things.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for your feedback, we apologise you have had difficulties you have had a wait in our call queue.

The quickest way to access our practice is via our website, the website opens for appointments at 8am and will close for appointments when we are fully booked, the website will remain available during practice opening times for other functionalities such as requesting a sick note or registrations. We understand that not all of our patients have access to the internet which is why we promote booking at the front desk and via the phones.

We are working hard to accommodate appointments for our patients, if we unable to provide an appointment at a time you have requested we are often able to provide advice or sign post to another appropriate service. Our appointments are bookable on the day, we no longer book appointment in advance with our GP and Nurse
practitioner team.

I am pleased that you have felt listened to by our clinical staff, I will pass on your feedback.

If you would like to discuss further please contact the practice on 01502 589151 or via email nwicb.highstreetdoctor@nhs.net
Kind regards
Sharni Rhodes
Operations Manager
High Street Surgery

Difficult to get through

July 24, 2023

Most of the time, it takes a lot of time to get through on the telephone. The school run makes it difficult if you are not able to get through within about 15 minutes. Online system is ok, but if you do not know what time you will get a ring back, again this makes things difficult. I feel they should have 1 hour slots showing that you could click a preference for. Once that slot is full they could put it is not an option. These online systems just could be so much better.

Anonymous

So helpful

July 24, 2023

We had a nasty experience whereby my husband fell down near this surgery. He was bleeding really badly, dizzy and disorientated. We just walked in and they were so helpful in getting us seen by a nurse as quickly as they could fit us in. This is our surgery and in general we do find it to be good for our needs.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for your kind words, I will pass this on to the team.
Kind regards
Sharni Rhodes
Operations Manager

30 mins behind

July 24, 2023

My appointment was already 30 mins behind and it is only 9:30am. I went up to reception and she rang through to the GP. The GP then did not come out, but reception said the GP was ready for me. Find that vey bizarre, and wonder how long I would have been sitting there if I had not spoken to reception. I personally find telephones very difficult and so I walk in to get an appointment and they are usually very accommodating.

Anonymous

Cannot get an appointment

May 24, 2023

Everyday I go onto the website for 8am to book an appointment, by the time I have navigated my way through (couple of minutes of that) when I go to make an appointment it is fully booked. On the one occasion that this has not happened I submitted the form and then got response advising that there were no Appointments left for this day. I have been trying since March to get an appointment about an ongoing health concern. Shocking. Staff attitudes on the phone are also rude and unhelpful.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for providing feedback, I apologise that you have not been able to get an appointment. I would like to discuss the concerns you have raised further, please can you contact us 01502 589151 or email us on nwicb.highstreetdoctor@nhs.net
Kind regards
Sharni Rhodes
Operations Manager

Appointments

May 11, 2023

Every time I 'phone to try and get an appointment I'm told 'phone back tomorrow!! It's ridiculous! How am I supposed to get an appointment? If I go in I'm still told the same, 'phone tomorrow'.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for your feedback, we apologise you have had difficulties obtaining an appointment.

The quickest way to access our practice is via our website, the website opens for appointments at 8am and will close when we are fully booked, the website will remain available during practice opening times for other functionalities such as requesting a sick note or registrations.

We are working hard to accommodate appointments for our patients, if we unable to provide an appointment at a time you have requested we are often able to provide advice or sign post to another appropriate service. Our appointments are bookable on the day, we no longer book appointment in advance with our GP and Nurse Practitioner team.
Kind regards
High Street Surgery

How to get an appointment with a GP or nurse

April 11, 2023

Apparently you can only get on the day appointments and are told to 'phone at 8.00am. So you 'phone at 8.00am and you are number 10 in the queue!!! Bizarre! When you eventually get through to a Receptionist you are told there are no appointments available this morning, to 'phone back at 2pm in the afternoon. You 'phone back in the afternoon at 2pm and you are number 8 in the queue! Again when you eventually get through to a Receptionist there are no appointments available!!! get told try tomorrow and so it goes on ! If you go into the surgery you still can't get an appointment, or if you try online.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for providing feedback, we apologise that you have had difficulty obtaining an appointment. We have listened to comments from our patients and have worked hard to change our appointment system to provide more appointments which are available to book on the day only. Unfortunately, for a long time a very large volume of appointments have not been attended resulting in a waste of clinical time. Our phone lines open at 8am and are often very busy, we do have multiple receptionists working through the call queue. Our website opens at 8am, when we reach capacity, we turn off our online forms to ensure patients are not waiting for appointments we are unable to provide. We try to implement a fair system so that those who call in and those that request appointments online have the same access to appointments. If you would like to discuss further please contact us on nwicb.highstreetdoctor@nhs.net.

Website not fit for purpose

April 6, 2023

The practice encourages patients to use its website to book appointments, however it nearly always states no appointments available today. One may be happy to have an appointment in say a weeks time but the site does not allow this! Being so frustrated I walked a mile to the surgery only to be told they couldn't make an appointment at that time.

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for providing feedback, we apologise that you have had difficulty requesting an appointment via our website. We have listened to comments from our patients and are working hard to change our appointment system to provide patients with more on the day face to face availability with our clinicians. When we reach capacity, we turn off our online forms to ensure patients are not waiting for appointments we are unable to provide. We try to implement a fair system so that those who call in and those that request appointments online have the same access to appointments. If you would like to discuss further please contact us on nwicb.highstreetdoctor@nhs.net.

Unable to access online routine appointment

February 16, 2023

Try to get a routine appointment on line or to ask Reception a question and every time it comes up with sorry we are fully booked today try tomorrow! How can I?

Anonymous

Reply from High Street Surgery, Lowestoft

Thank you for providing feedback, we apologise that you have had difficulty requesting an appointment via our website. We have listened to comments from our patients and are working hard to change our appointment system to provide patients with more on the day face to face availability with our clinicians. When we reach capacity, we turn off our online forms to ensure patients are not waiting for appointments we are unable to provide. We try to implement a fair system so that those who call in and those that request appointments online have the same access to appointments. If you would like to discuss further please contact us on nwicb.highstreetdoctor@nhs.net.

Kind regards
Anni
Practice Manager

High Street Surgery, Lowestoft