Eastfield House Surgery - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled Bad service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 August 2023
Very long waiting for non emergency appointments. I been offering appointment in a middle of September. Everything that I can say this is a bad service
Visited July 2023
Eastfield House Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Unable to get appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Dave P - Posted on 25 July 2023
I have a shoulder problem, that I've tried to treat with ice and ibuprofen after talking to a pharmacist. That’s unfortunately not cleared up the issue, to the point that I’m not having trouble sleeping. I call today to get an appointment with somebody to help, and I’m told it’s 6 to 8 weeks for an appointment! What makes it worse, from the looks of it they are still accepting new patients, even when they can’t offer appointments to their existing ones
Visited July 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 26 July 2023
Dear Dave P I am sorry to hear that you have had ongoing shoulder pain and appreciate that you have taken steps to manage your condition with your pharmacist. Routine appointments with a patient’s own GP can vary between 3-6 weeks however, more urgent on the day appointments can be booked with another GP at the practice, where capacity allows. We are constantly reviewing access and capacity for appointments at Eastfield House and this can vary depending on staff sickness and holiday. However, we are planning to implement a new triage appointment system in the Autumn which will allow GPs to prioritise the most urgent appointments at first contact, according to the patient needs. We will be releasing details of the new appointment system in due course. With regard to our practice list size, this has continued to grow with the ongoing housing development in our practice boundary which is not within our control. We have taken measures to install some temporary consulting rooms in our car park to allow us to improve our service by employing more clinical and admin staff, whilst working with a local developer on plans for a new purpose-built surgery. We have spoken to our ICB about the possibility of closing our patient list, but this is only permitted in extreme circumstances and for a limited period. I hope I have been able to address the concerns that you raise. Please contact me at the surgery if you would like to discuss things further. Kind regards Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Too long for an appointment
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 06 July 2023
I waited 6 weeks for an appointment. Since my Doctor retired I rarely see the same Doctor. The receptionists are great and care fine when finally get to see someone. I know the nhs is suffering difficulties but this is unacceptable. I feel for the receptionists who have to tell patients how long they will have to wait. This needs addressing urgently
Visited July 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 24 July 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for providing Eastfield House Surgery with feedback about our appointment availability. I am sorry that you had to wait 6 weeks for a routine appointment with your GP. Routine appointments can very between 3 to 6 weeks, depending on the patients own GP availability, which can be longer at times due to annual leave. However, if a patient needs to be seen on an urgent basis, appointments are available the same day but it may not always be possible for the patient to see their own GP. We are constantly reviewing our appointment system and GP availability. We are hoping to adopt a new appointment system in the Autumn to give patients better access to our services and we will be providing details about the new system in the coming weeks. Thank you for acknowledging the good care our receptionists provide at the surgery. They work very hard to provide the best possible care and service for our patients. With best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Unbelievable
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 13 March 2023
Called reception to ask where disabled parking was and was 3rd in the queue for 15 minutes and still never got my call answered so I hung up.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 16 March 2023
Dear Sir/Madam I am sorry that you experienced a longer than ideal wait on the telephone to ask about disabled parking. We regularly monitor phone calls and I will investigate the issue you have raised. I can confirm that we have two disabled parking spaces in our surgery car park, which is situated at the rear of our building and is accessible via Catherine Road. If you have access to the internet, you can direct queries of this nature via our website by clickly on the message envelope on the left hand side of the screen. Messages are monitored throughout the day. I hope I have been able to address your issue. Kind regards Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Awful
Rated 1 star out of 5
by SarahW - Posted on 23 February 2023
7 week wait for an appointment with my GP (even telephone appointments). I am not 'allowed' to meet with another doctor as mine insists his patients all see him only - I have never even met him so not sure why this rule exists and all it means is that I can't see another doctor sooner. If phoning for an urgent same day appointment they go within minutes, so even if you start the phone call before the urgent slots are released, by the time to automatic message finishes you then join a queue (for me i was 8th in the queue), when I got to the front of the queue all appointments were gone. I'm then told to visit the website to book an appointment, website is down and I get 'page cannot be found'. Utterly frustrating. Absolutely baffling that this surgery is taking on more patients when they are clearly over subscribed and not enough doctors - or maybe enough doctors but not working efficiently enough. All in all an extremely upsetting experience.
Visited February 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 24 February 2023
Dear Sarah I am sorry that you have had an upsetting and frustrating experience when contacting the practice for a GP appointment. Current wait times, for routine appointments with a patient's own GP, can vary if the own GP has holiday in the period. It is the practice policy that patients see their own GP where possible, as this ensures continuity of care and is a more efficient use of time. However, urgent on the day appointments are available with any GP when own GP is not available. In addition, our Paramedics offer on the day appointments for acute and minor illness. Unfortunately, the demand for these appointments can be higher than we can safely provide. We are constantly monitoring our appointment availability and provide GP locum cover for holiday, sickness and during busier times of the year. The demand for our service has increased in the last few years due to the number of housing developments being built in our catchment area. We monitor closely our patient numbers and GP allocations to make sure we can sustain a safe level of care to our patients. We are unable to refuse to register a patient living within our practice boundary and with this in mind, we are having regular conversations about our premises constraints with our Integrated Care Board who report directly to NHS England. We have made modifications to our practice to allow for extra consulting rooms and admin space. In addition, land has been identified for us to build a new practice on the southern side of our practice boundary, subject to NHS England approval. Once approval has been granted it will take a further two years for a new surgery to be built. In February 2022 we made an application to our ICB for two temporary clinical cabins to be installed in our car park to enable our clinicians to offer more face to face appointments. Unfortunately, despite much input from our GP partners, we are still waiting for approval. I am sorry that you experienced problems with our website and online booking service. We are not aware of any other reported incidents and the systems are working well today. I hope my response has addressed the issues you have raised and explained the steps we are taking to monitor and improve our service. I would be grateful if you would contact me directly at the practice so we can make sure your medical needs are dealt with. I look forward to hearing from you. With best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Friendly and helpful
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 10 December 2022
Having to get my name changed on the system quickly for a covid pass for travel to America, both the receptionist and medical administrator were very helpful, did their best to resolve the issue and gave me assurances that they would continue to help! All sorted and my thanks to them!
Visited December 2022
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 03 January 2023
Thank you very much for taking the time to tell us about your positive experience at the surgery. Our staff work hard to provide the best possible service for our patients and it is very reassuring to hear when we have done something well. With best wishes Liz Pope, Practice Manager
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Review titled Fantastic service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Eileen Elliott - Posted on 10 October 2022
I felt that I needed to redress the balance with the negative reviews. I rang the surgery shortly after opening time on a Monday morning I was notified that I was caller number 12 - not surprising after a weekend. I had a 10 minute wait then got through. The receptionist was extremely caring and professional and after listening to my symptoms gave me the option of an appointment or call back I opted for an appointment and was seen 2 hours later The Dr I saw was not the one I am registered with but was extremely thorough and professional Treatment and ongoing advice given What a service in a time of huge patient demand and high GP vacancies Well done Eastfield House staff you are outstanding
Visited October 2022
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 17 October 2022
Dear Mrs Elliott Thank you so much for taking the time to write a positive review about your experience at Eastfield House Surgery. You describe how our teams work together to provide the best possible outcome for our patients, something which we strive to do on a daily basis. It is very reassuring to know when we are doing things well and I will feedback your comments to our staff. I hope you are feeling better and thank you once more for your feedback. With best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Rude and abusive receptionist
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 28 June 2022
Unacceptable rudeness from a receptionist common to others here. The appointment system is awful now, but made worse by being shouted at by a receptionist (who continued to shout despite being told calmly they were shouting) - all just because you have to challenge by explaining your child’s disabilities and deteriorating health to secure a face to face appointment. Her frustration with her job and NHS rules etc is no excuse to take it out on me or be so rude and abusive. The doctors and nurses are lovely and this is one receptionist from a team (not all are like this) but no one should be exposed to angry verbal abuse just for trying to get an appointment. This person is really letting this practise down and attitude causes great distress to patients and carers.
Visited June 2022
Eastfield House Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Excellent Practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Tracy HJ - Posted on 17 October 2022
I moved to Eastfield House from another in Newbury 7 years ago and the service here is so much better compared to my previous practice. The main thing that I like is that you can see your named GP and keep a relationship with them or rapport. Very few practices operate this way these days and I was pleased to find a practice that strives to maintain this as it's important. If you need to be seen urgently, you can get an appointment quickly - or opt for a routine appointment within a week or two. All the staff I have dealt with (including receptionists, admin staff as well as GPs and nurses) for myself or my daughters have been extremely professional and they follow up very quickly (they always respond to phone or email messages too). I would certainly recommend this surgery highly.
Visited June 2022
Eastfield House Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Going downhill
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Gill - Posted on 12 May 2022
I had a consultation with my new doctor who sent me for an x-ray and asked me to call her when the results were back. So far, so good! However, 2 days later I received a message to tell me that my new doctor has left!!! I would have expected to have been told this and given the choice to see another doctor with whom I could have continued my treatment - now I have to start again!! Did this doctor leave so suddenly because of the receptionist problem that people are complaining about? I too have suffered the sharp end of a receptionist tongue in the past but the last lady I spoke to, to arrange last week's appointment, was good. I do however agree with the comments of other patients and more needs to be done to rectify the recent problems.
Visited May 2022
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 18 May 2022
Dear Gill Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback about your recent experience at Eastfield House. I am sorry to hear that your GP did not mention that they were leaving the practice during your last consultation. I can assure you that your GP will have documented the consultation in your medical records for another clinician to continue with your care. I am sorry that you felt that our receptionist was sharp with you in the past, our receptionists undergo regular training and we will use your comments as part of the next training session. Thank you also for letting us know that your recent experience with a member of our reception team was good. Best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager