The Broadway Surgery

Earlier in the month I put a prescription in on Tuesday morning and was unable to collect it until the following Monday afternoon. I popped into the surgery on Friday morning to see if the prescription was ready for collection, was told to ring back in the afternoon. Rang in afternoon waited 20mins for phone to be answered only to be told ring Monday.
Have since been told there is only one person on reception in afternoon, where as in the past there was two or three.
If you want to see a Doctor same day, you have to start ringing the surgery from 8 O'clock and as there is only one number, the phone is constantly engaged. To overcome this I walked to the surgery to arrive just after 8 O'clock and booked an appointment for that morning. This has now been stopped because so many people where arriving outside the surgery by 8 O'clock to try and book an appointment for that morning.
It would be better if we went back to the old days when people turned up at the surgery and got seen that day.

My partner and I have been registered with this practice for over 20 years and were always grateful for the impeccable manner and professionalism of the doctors and the reception staff who were always extremely helpful and courteous. However, the 'friendly welcome' has all but disappeared and the present service is a concern to us:

(1) A few weeks ago, my partner's consultant at a specialist hospital sent the surgery a letter recommending that he begin a course of tablets. When my partner phoned the surgery to enquire about the prescription, he was told by a receptionist that it hadn't been received. When pressed, the receptionist managed to shuffle a few papers around and eventually located the letter (no apology given). When we got the letter back, we saw that it was dated 28th March and the prescription has just gone in after a fortnight.

(2) I booked two appointments, one to see the practice nurse and then the doctor 25 minutes later. I arrived less than 10 minutes late to see the nurse and was told (by the same receptionist with whom my partner had had the misfortune of dealing with) that the patient who was booked in after me was in the room with the nurse. I asked if it was possible if I could have the next appointment which was effectively free as that patient had already been seen. The receptionist simply said, "no, you were late for your appointment." The waiting room was empty bar one other person so I asked if the nurse was going home. "No," came the frosty reply to which I asked if they had other patients to see. The receptionist had clearly had enough of the fact that this situation had deviated from the usual scenarios where only monosyllabic answers could be given so they decided to end it with, "I'm not talking about this anymore!" Strange then, that 5 minutes later, the communication board 'bleeped' me to attend the nurse's room! The struggling receptionist shot into the nurse's room and anxious whispering ensued. When they emerged, I was told that I had to re-book to see the nurse even though I probably could have seen them as there was enough time before I went in to see the doctor.

On the whole, the doctors here are pleasant and efficient so I'm not sure that incidences that demonstrate a lack of people skills or empathy and errors in administration are purely down to the odd member of staff or whether it is in fact policy as laid down by the whole team at the practice. You may, or may not, wish to decide for yourself.

My 90 year old mother required an emergency appointment which the receptionists facilitated despite being extremely busy. They and the doctor were very understanding and dealt promptly with us, maintaining her dignity and privacy. They prevented the need for us to dial 999 and waste NHS resources which would have been unnecessary and more disorientating for my mother. Unfortunately, the reception staff were then exposed to some unpleasant behaviours from a few patients in the waiting room which was sad as the staff were acting in my mothers best interests. Due to their actions my mother received the medication she needed and recovered within a few days which may not have been the case if she had had to go to hospital.

I cannot stress strongly enough how inefficient this surgery has become. I have already left a damning review but, due to my latest experience at this surgery, I feel the need to make others aware of the extent of the dangerous way this practice is being run. I agree with all the most recent reviews but the 'last straw' occurred last week when I was informed that a 'new system' had been installed which mean't all patients' details have been entered into this new (I presume computerised) system.
Most of my health details (which were being read to me over the phone by a GP) were incorrect as if someone else's records had been inputted under my name which is totally unacceptable particularly if you have a chronic and very serious illness as I do.
I cannot afford to stay at this practice any longer.
I have no faith whatsoever in any of the current staff throughout the practice.
I will be making an official complaint once the re organisation of the PCT has been initiated in April and will be seeking further advice. I am not a 'complainer' by nature but I feel very angry and concerned and that people should be made aware of the all too many shortcomings of this surgery.
I have not rated my review as I believe no stars is an appropriate score!

the service are very disappointing. firstly u have to book the appointment on the same day and secondly if u call on the same day the line is extremly busy and u cant book an appointment because its already full!

I became a patient at this practice along with my family 2-3 years ago.
They have been a nightmare from reception through to GP.
I have had to consistently push and insist on tests only to be refused or ignored and then when refer to a specialist who makes the correct diagnosis am met with all manner of excuses from the GPs at this practice. A common theme is to announce a diagnosis without tests or procedures , so sure of themselves are these GPs.
On feeling consistently ill and repeatedly returning to one particularly confident doctor, I was told I am ' over 40, female and getting old' therefore get over it and live with feeling ill. Only to then be diagnosed by a doctor in hospital and rushed to have a pacemaker implant. The gp at the broadway in question did not even bother to take my pulse!!!
I can go on... Please go elsewhere where there is integrity, human respect and fastidiousness.

I have been a patient at this surgery for 6 years and, due to having an ongoing and serious medical condition, I have had to rely on the GPs, the nurse and non-medical staff constantly.
I was deeply impressed when I first joined and felt safe in the knowledge that everyone I had dealings with were helpful, sympathetic , understanding and caring.
Alas, this is no longer the case and the practice, in my opinion, has seriously deteriorated in the last year.
I have found new reception staff very unhelpful and rude. I realise that they are busy and some patients can be unresonable but I have witnessed a number of occasions where a dispute has developed purely because of the manner in which the reception have spoken to the enquirer.
This high handed, bullying approach also applies to the Practice Manager, the nurse and I've even experienced this with a GP.
I am seriously considering changing to another GP which is not a decision taken lightly but I honestly feel too vulnerable and unsafe under the care of this practice now and can wholeheartedly agree with the other damaging reviewers.

I have moved to Woodford Green a year ago and researched different GPs in the area. I used this site, and went for the Broadway surgery as it seemed to have the most positive reviews.

However reality was completely different, after a year at this surgery I can say that I am already researching other GP practices as I am extremely dissatisfied with the level of care and service. I had never experienced any of these issues at my old GP practice. I am so dissatisfied that I do not want others to go through the same bad experience.

Issues experienced;
1) Test results are never updated on the system on the day that they are received, I would usually have to phone the surgery at least 2-3 times to chase them on whether they have received it. From now on, when seeing a consultant, I ask them to provide me with a copy of test results as I never trust that they will be received by the surgery and uploaded to their system in a timely manner.

2) Loosing correspondence - on two occasions, the surgery has lost important correspondence. Their excuse is usually "oh it's been misplaced". In fact, the whole system at this GP is dated, and needs to be updated. Looking behind reception, you can see how unsophisticated their filing system is, still heavily paper based and prone to error.

3) phone lines always busy - I get the impression that this practice has more patients than it can handle, on several occasions I can see the receptionist struggling to keep up with phone calls and with patients at reception. This leads sometimes to phone calls not being picked up promptly, queries not being followed through correctly, promises to call back forgotten, etc... There is far too much work for these receptionists to handle is the impression. The heavily manual and out dated system does not help. For me to get anything done, i usually have to come to the surgery in person and sit there to make sure my query is actually being followed through.This is a shame as I do put the receptionists under pressure, however that's the only way to get things done unfortunately.

4) Rushed appointments - every time that I have seen a GP, I have felt rushed and felt that the service is not as thorough or personal at all. For example, the GP scans the history as I am there and doesn't really pay attention to detail. Especially when dealing with personal and sensitive topics, there has been no compassion, and no real advise given. This may not apply to all the GPs, but I have seen 2 different GPs at this clinic, and experienced the same low quality of treatment.

5) Emergency appointment are pot luck - Usually calling the GP at 8:00 am in the morning would allow you to book an emergency appointment, however these are completely booked up by 8:15 am. Again, I feel that the GP has taken on more patients than they could actually handle.

6) Incorrect records - When reviewing my husband's record, it was apparent that they had an incorrect medical history.

This practise has too many patients and it is almost impossible to get an appointment when you want one. You can have an afternoon appointment if you book 3-4 weeks in advance. You can have a morning appointment if you phone at 8, but it's very difficult to get through, I called some 50 times between 8 and 8:30 but whne I finally spoke to the receptionist there were no appointments left and I was told to try again to the next day.

Appalling practise

I agree with the few latest reviews. This surgery is so awful it is almost unbelievable. I agree that the reception staff are not helpful and even rude. But I can understand how awful it must be to work there since it is so inefficient and disorganized. I would not want to work for the arrogant doctors that are here either. My past experience of doctors was so different.

The worst thing about this place are the doctors. Like other reviews my experience of the doctors are also that they do not care! -at best. My experience was that not only did they not care and had no compassion at all, they were mean and a bully and I left in shock. When my husband saw me he knew something was wrong and asked me what was wrong. After the shock and his concern I just burst into tears! I do not often need to see my doctor and I certainly do not cry easily but I had just moved into the area and was at a vulnerable time in my life. I still cannot believe a doctor can make me feel this way. I have since had the same impression of other doctors there. I did not leave crying but I really did not feel they cared the slightest.

Just like other reviews, notes and results were always missing and you do have to chase them up constantly. It took months for my husband to get his notes and they lost test samples as well! One member of staff would blame another. It's just awful.

My previous doctor was brilliant and the doctor here told me I was treated incorrectly by them and that they had to give me the correct treatment. However, I have many friends who are doctors and they have since advised me that my previous doctor was right and this one was not.

Like other patients who have written reviews here, I am so angry and it still upsets me at how I was treated.

I have since changed surgery and I advise those of you who are still there to do the same and those who are looking to look elsewhere