Impossible to get appointments by phone when everyone had to ring at 8a.m. Now you can only get appointments by filling in a form on their website before 10.30a.m (what about people who are not on the internet?). Then you have to justify why you need an appointment by telling all your personal, private medical information to the receptionist or Practice Manager, several times, before they decide whether to give you an appointment or not. If they decide not to give you an appointment you have no right to appeal their decision. After having tried almost all the GP's at the Surgery I have found the best to be Dr Ratti, although Dr Harrington is also good. The best nurse is Michelle. However some of the other GP's make mistakes or forget to do referrals, and one nurse didn't do my pneumonia vaccine properly and has damaged my arm. The Practice Manager is like a lot of Practice Managers - very dictatorial and authoritarian. She sent me a bullying letter threatening to remove me from the surgery because I had made complaints, and she said I am not allowed to make complaints. It seems that she does not want to hear any negative feedback to improve the service for all patients, but prefers to just remove patients who make complaints. She also complained I contact the surgery a lot - because I have many different illnesses, and have to chase up mistakes made by their staff - missing prescriptions, forgotten referrals etc. So she blames ME for their mistakes, and seems to only welcome patients if they have no illnesses and never contact the surgery. Practice manager is not only a bully but also a liar - she lied to one of the nurses (Michelle) and told her I had complained about her when I hadn't. The Practice Manager has decided I am only allowed to see one nurse and none of the others and only speak to two of the Dr's - without anyone consulting me about this or seeking my views or wishes. I have got a right to see any nurse or Dr that I choose, but the Practice Manager is on a big power trip, like most of them are, and throws her weight around, cancelling my blood test appointments and making decisions about which nurse and Dr I can see, without consulting me at all. I don't want to have blood tests with the nurse she has decided or see one of the Dr's she has decided either. If you ring the surgery you have to listen to a very long winded recorded message by the Dr, telling you they don't want you to contact them at all, unless it is an emergency and you can only contact them through their website, before 10.30a.m. Most of the receptionists are rude and unhelpful. They cancelled blood test appointments I had booked, with no warning and no explanation and when I asked to speak to the Practice Manager about it they refused to put me through. I have asked several times to speak to the Practice Manager and always refused. It seems that she is happy to send out bullying letters in the post but not speak on the phone.

I tried to book a same day emergency appointment over the phone and was met by a rude and curt receptionist who only seemed to mutter the words “we’re fully booked” and seemed more concerned about turning me away than solving my issue. I had been to an out of hours appointment from a 111 call the night before with a doctor who had googled my symptoms and was hoping to get a second opinion with my GP as I was prescribed steroids, but the only help the receptionist could offer was to send me to a walk in center. The nearest appointment I can book is the 19th of October which is of no help whatsoever.
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