Penn Hill Surgery, Yeovil - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled Wonderful receptionist
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Sue S - Posted on 27 March 2024
I was unable to get a prescription from the pharmacy or my optician so called in at the surgery reception. The lady behind the desk was wonderful and managed to get me an appointment that afternoon - we had a good laugh too! I know GP receptionists get a 'bad rap' but I have found the receptionists at Penn Hill to be friendly, approachable and helpful.
Visited March 2024
Penn Hill Surgery, Yeovil has not yet replied.
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Review titled Confused
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Mr & Mrs M. Ladyman - Posted on 05 December 2023
Why can no appointments be made in advance can someone tell us please. No continuity, have a named GP but not able to see him! With serious health conditions and recently out of hospital again and concerns over medication changes offered an appt with a trainee and totally understand and certainly not being difficult but having said can wait as symptoms quite complicated please can we see our own GP, told would have to wait 3-4 weeks, so could we make an appt for 3-4 weeks time, it is all too confusing! The receptionist was very polite but we are in our seventies and just dont understand what on earth is going on. The one positive is that the practice manager has changed I understand, the previous one was so rude and disrespectful, he was actually quite threatening.
Visited November 2023
Penn Hill Surgery, Yeovil has not yet replied.
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Review titled Rude Receptionist
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Paula Dowding - Posted on 06 December 2022
I called this morning after explaining that my 90-year-old mother-in-law had a bad fall at the weekend, and I need to make an appointment to have her 9 stitches out, unfortunate she is house bound so we would need a home visit. This was going ok at this time until I was bluntly told that she wasn't registered as house bound. I have a huge respect for the receptionists as they do have a hard time, I always make sure I am courteous and polite to them. She then explained that they would telephone my mother-in-law, I explained that she doesn't answer her phone I was told "that's not my problem" I asked her not to be so rude and I'm afraid she was, so I terminated the phone call. My mother-in-law still needs to have her stitches taken out. My mother-in-law has been a patient with Penhill for over 70 years and I think she reserved some respect!! This incident wasn't necessary, and politeness goes both ways!!!
Visited December 2022
Penn Hill Surgery, Yeovil has not yet replied.
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Review titled Rude staff
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Ambra Guastini - Posted on 16 September 2022
This morning at 8:30 I tried to contact a doctor through the ask my gp online service but with no luck. I understand they can switch off the service before 9:30 if they reach maximum capacity of emergency cases, but from the way it is explained on their website, it's not clear at all that this could happen even at 8:30, which is when the service is supposed to be switched on. I felt like the conversation with the first lady I spoke with over the phone wasn't going anywhere, since she kept repeating the same sentence over and over, so I asked if there was someone else I could speak to. She then transferred the call to a colleague of her who was quite rude! The lady just cut me off saying I wasn't listening to her, which was not true, I had been listening and very carefully. She also just kept using the same sentence as the first lady, saying that they had already reached maximum capacity. I felt it was like talking to a rude robot. After a while, after asking the "right" questions, I was able to understand that by emergency cases they don't mean people who can have access to the surgery since they are considered emergencies; they mean that these people are a priority and therefore can use the ask my gp service before others. That's why at 8:30am they had already reached maximum capacity. For future reference I would recommend trying to find a different way of explaining things rather than just repeating the same exact sentence over and over. Also showing a bit more respect or empathy wouldn't hurt either. It looks like I am not the only one who has complained about some very rude people working at the reception. I really hope the manager will take action because these rude people are ruining the reputation of the surgery and I know that there are also some caring and professional people working there.
Visited September 2022
Review titled Penn Hill Surgery, Yeovil
Replied on 26 September 2022
Dear Ambra Thank you for bringing to our attention and I am sorry you felt it necessary to do so. Feedback is very important to us. Can I clarify one point at the onset, we are not a 24/7 emergency service and you have referenced to that priority in several places – a medical emergency should be routed to either A&E, and Urgent Treatment Centre or a Minor Injuries Unit depending on its nature. We refer to our demand as same-day or routine. Every day we have a finite capacity for routine activity. This is driven by the number of clinical staff I have working during our core hours from 8am to 6:30pm. Once that capacity is reached, I have to say “no more”. I always must keep in mind that cases requiring same-day response will come in throughout the day and have capacity to provide for them. They may have referred to this as urgent cases when you contacted us. I am sorry you felt the staff you talked with were rude – that is, of course, not the image we wish to portray. They have guidance on how to deal with requests at different times and in various scenarios and we shall review that to see if improvements can take place. The only instances that might be added to that days workload prior to 8:30am are likely to be cases of end of life care that were flagged up by the out of hours service. Requests from nursing homes about frail and elderly residents are another example. But these are the exception rather than the rule. In the south west there is a known shortage of clinicians – I have been recruiting for a new staff GP for over 3 months with no suitable candidates despite a generous package including relocation. Having vacancies means at times I am operating with just the 1 GP plus 1 or more nurse practitioners. On such days I have to limit the capacity to same day only and AskMyGP is not available. I am sorry you had the experience you did and for the upset it caused. We are working hard to try and overcome the current challenges. I hope I have demonstrated I have listened and am sincere about learning any lessons. If you wish to discuss this further with me then contact me via our switchboard on 01935 470800. Kind regards, Brian Matthews, Practice Manager