The North Leeds Medical Practice - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled Poor appointment systems in place
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 12 September 2023
In a face to face appointment the Doctor told me she would call back with results on the morning of 12th Sep. The calls came through in the afternoon and due to work i could not answer. A call to the surgery from my end- first time on hold for 25 minutes and cut off, second time 15 minutes and was told two call attempts from the surgery means the appointment is voided so no follow up. I was told the next call back appointment would be 4 weeks away....or go through the phone system early to get call back on day. No realistic system in place for those who are unable to call or go to the surgery at 8am. Looking at switching as everytime I hope something will change and it doesn't. This is why I don't make appointments, the system is unrealistic for many
Visited September 2023
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 22 September 2023
Dear Patient We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to us, as a practice we have reflected on your complaint, consultation, our performance and best practice triggers. We understand from your complaint that you were informed you will be called by a GP in the morning; however, you were called in the afternoon, at a time you were unable to answer the call. We can also see that you had to wait a long time in the call queue. We are very sorry for the distress and frustration caused to you. We can confirm that GPs make two attempts to call patients before they close appointments on the record. We note from the details in your complaint, that you have raised this complaint with us directly too. We would like to assure you that we are currently investigating the points you have raised and will respond to you directly in detail with our investigation findings. We are sorry our service did not meet your expectation on this occasion. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled Outstanding Customer Service Levels
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 September 2023
We visited the practice today which was extremely busy and we had amazing service from the reception staff, the GP and the pharmacist. These are very difficult times and everyone is doing a great job in keeping us safe and well. Thank you to everyone
Visited September 2023
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 02 October 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for your kind review. Our service takes great pleasure in reading positive reviews and we take practice learning from all feedback. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled Greatly improved.
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Shelley Armson - Posted on 03 July 2023
In the past it has been difficult to get an appointment but I rang last week and managed to get a appointment in a few days, the doctor I saw was very good.
Visited June 2023
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 18 August 2023
Dear Shelley Armson Thank you for your kind review. Our service takes great pleasure in reading positive reviews and we take practice learning from all feedback. We are sorry that you have had difficulty obtaining appointments in the past. However, we are very happy that you have had a positive experience in booking an appointment with us and have left happy following your consultation with one of our GPs. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled Appointment
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Margaret Jowett - Posted on 17 June 2023
'Big is not always better'. Since this practice built a swish building, took on 21,000 patients with too few full time Drs the availability and method of gaining an appointment is often impossible, and little, even a pro-active patient can do for themselves, for the Dr's hold the power of the pen as the gateway to treatment. At 85 yrs of age I have risen at 6.30am twice this week, driven to the surgery for 7.30am to be first in a queue of other frustrated patients to get an appointment. Is this right? No I don't think so. I am fortunate to be able to do this , others of my age cannot./ Leadership, having a practice manager that stays the course and training are vital, but not at the patients expense by closing, once a month, an afternoon and late night surgery to do this, reducing, in my opinion appointment times even further. I believe training should be done at the surgery's expense on a Saturday. Lack of access to a doctor for a patient is all seriously depressing, exhausting and sadly may lead to illness going undetected.
Visited June 2023
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 18 August 2023
Dear Ms Jowett We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to us, as a practice we have reflected on your complaint, consultation, our performance and best practice triggers. We understand from your comments that you are not happy with the service you have been receiving in relation to appointment bookings at North Leeds Medical Practice. We are sorry the service did not meet your expectation. We can see that you are not happy with the appointment booking system we have in place at the practice. We would like to advise that we have a limited number of appointments for each day. Due to demand, we find the appointment slots are fully booked early in the day. This is the reason why we advise patients to call at 08:00. We do have urgent telephone consultation appointments which can be booked after 15:30 for anyone who feels they cannot wait until the next day, though again, we have a limited number of these appointments. Patients do not need to come into the surgery in person to book these appointments, however, we can understand why some patients do choose to attend in person in order to avoid the call queues. We have a twelve GPs, seven nurses and 6 Healthcare assistance who work across both our sites. We can ensure that all our consultation rooms are booked at capacity to ensure we are able to see as many patients as possible. There is a much higher demand for appointments at a national level compared to how it was in the past years. We would like to advise that this issue is not just local to our surgery, but it is a national issue. As a result, we encourage patients to use the Patchs service on the practice website as an alternative for non-urgent issues. Patients can contact the surgery using this tool and should receive a response from a GP within 24 hours. If this is not suitable and your issue is more urgent; then it is advisable to either contact the NHS 111 service or visit the walk-in centre so that you can get the medical advice you require. We note from your review, that you are not happy with the practice closing once a month for our Target training session. We are sorry that this closure causes you upset. However, we would like to advise that this closure for training is required by all practices in the Private Care Network. We are told to do this by the the West Yorkshire ICB. We take all your comments on board, North Leeds Medical Practice is constantly working to improve our services. Please accept our sincere apologies, once again, on behalf of the practice. We are sorry our service did not meet your expectation on this occasion. We hope this response addresses the concerns raised in your review. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled No appointment available
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 February 2023
I have never called for an appointment and I did receive one, even for an emergency appointment. In each case, they responded that there were no appointments available, and they referred me to a walk-in center or an ANE. In spite of the fact that we pay all these taxes, when I need them sent me to a walk in center. I informed the recipients that I checked my symptoms and believe I have an ear infection and I do not have the energy to wait in an emergency room or walk in center for several hours. Very bad service and always they have shortages in sttaf. I rarely call them I use the services just for emergency , even that referral me to emergency unit.
Visited February 2023
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 13 March 2023
We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to us, as a practice we have reflected on your complaint, consultation, our performance, and best practice triggers. We are sorry to hear that you have had trouble in obtaining an appointment on each occasion you have attempted to call us and that you have been informed that the appointments for the day had been booked. We would like to advise that we have a limited number of appointments for each day. Due to demand, we find the appointment slots are fully booked early in the day. To tackle this, we advise patients to call at 8:00am. We do have urgent telephone consultation appointments which can be booked after 15:30 for anyone who feels they cannot wait until the next day, though again, we have a limited number of these appointments. We would like to advise that this issue is not just local to our surgery, but it is a national issue. There is a much higher demand for appointments at a national level compared to how it was in the past years. We understand that you would not want to wait several hours in the waiting rooms of either a walk-in centre or A&E. However, our reception staff sign post patients to the relevant alternative services should we not be able to provide you with the service you require. We are sorry for any distress or inconvenience caused to you, as this was not our intention. We encourage patients to use the e-consult service on the practice website as an alternative in non-emergency situations. Patients can contact the surgery using this tool and should receive a response from a GP within 24 hours. We can appreciate that it can be frustrating to not get an appointment for when you would like, and we are sorry for any distress that this would cause. We take all your comments on board, North Leeds Medical Practice is constantly working to improve our services. Please accept our sincere apologies, once again, on behalf of the practice. We are sorry our service did not meet your expectation on this occasion. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled No Doctor Again
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 January 2023
Managed to get through in 20 minutes and was given an appointment for 10.50am. On arrival was told that the doctor hadn't turned up and there wasn't any appointments. I received a text 6 minutes before my appointment to say it was cancelled,I had then left the surgery. Other patients in the waiting room were also receiving calls and texts cancelling appointments. I asked if I could book another appointment to be told I'd have to ring back at 8am the following day and hope to get through and get an appointment. I was also told that waiting time for non same day appointments was 6 weeks. It's not the first time I've arrived at the surgery to be told the appointment is cancelled as no doctor. Surely they can let people know in advance not on arrival. This surgery is now a complete farce.
Visited January 2023
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 09 January 2023
We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to us, as a practice we have reflected on your complaint, consultation, our performance and best practice triggers. We are sincerely sorry that your appointment was cancelled at an extremely short notice. We try our level best to notify patients as soon as possible if their appointment is cancelled as we notify patients as soon as we are made aware of the cancellation. Unfortunately, there can be times when this is not possible if clinicians cannot come into the surgery at very short notice due to unforeseeable circumstances. We understand that you had then attempted to book another appointment, however you were advised that there were no further appointments available for the day. We have a limited number of rooms in the building, which are fully utilised daily by both GP’s and Nurses. This gives us a specific number of appointments each day. Once all the appointments have been used, we have no further appointments to offer. We do have a Duty Doctor on call every day, who is available to be booked for emergencies appointments after 15:30 on the day. Again, these appointments are very limited and once these appointments have been used, we have no further emergency appointments to offer for that day. Therefore, we advise patients to call at 08:00am on the day to ensure they can book an appointment on the day. We would like to advise that this issue is not just local to our surgery, but it is a national issue. There is a much higher demand for appointments at a national level compared to how it was in the past years. We can confirm that we are working very hard to increase the number of salaried GPs and Nurses at the practice to try to elevate our increasing demand on the service. We take all your comments on board, North Leeds Medical Practice is constantly working to improve our services. Please accept our sincere apologies, once again, on behalf of the practice. We are sorry our service did not meet your expectation on this occasion. We hope this response addresses the concerns raised in your complaint. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled Deteriorated
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Valerie Goldthorp - Posted on 21 November 2022
Posted a very positive review a year ago. There has been such a deterioration in the practice… I have tried repeatedly to get an appointment over the last few months but have never managed to ‘ win’ the 8am telephone race. Appointments with the nurse are fine for regular blood tests for a range of long-term conditions and the pharmacist has been amazing in being proactive in sorting out medication. However, I received a phone call last week to say the doctor needed to speak time. I was told to begin the 8am raffle again and was still unsuccessful. I eventually phoned and asked again for an appointment booking. I was told the first available appt was Dec 23. I looked online and found one appt available on Dec 1st. I booked it but received no confirmation. Fingers crossed.. I am 77, live alone, not very technically adept….and am frightened for the future with no guarantee of being able to access medical advice and help.
Visited November 2022
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 23 November 2022
We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to us, as a practice we have reflected on your complaint, consultation, our performance and best practice triggers. We are sincerely sorry that you have experienced difficulties obtaining an appointment for when you wanted one. We have limited pre-bookable appointments for advanced bookings by the GP or reception team. There is huge demand for the appointments we are able to offer and unfortunately, the pre-bookable appointments get booked quickly. We are very sorry for any distress that may have been caused as we understand the frustration of not being able to obtain an appointment when required. We have a limited number of rooms in the building, which are fully utilised daily by both GP’s and Nurses. This gives us a specific number of appointments each day. Once all the appointments have been used, we have no further appointments to offer. We do have a Duty Doctor on call every day, who is available to be booked for emergencies appointments, and can only be booked after 15:30 on the day. Again, these appointments are very limited and once these appointments have been used, we have no further emergency appointments to offer for that day. Therefore, we advise patients to call at 08:00am on the day to ensure they are able to book an appointment on the day. We would like to advise that this issue is not just local to our surgery, but it is a national issue. There is a much higher demand for appointments at a national level compared to how it was in the past years. We can confirm that we are working very hard to increase the number of salaried GPs and Nurses at the practice to try to elevate our increasing demand on the service. We take all your comments on board, North Leeds Medical Practice is constantly working to improve our services. Please accept our sincere apologies, once again, on behalf of the practice. We are sorry our service did not meet your expectation on this occasion. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice
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Review titled Not patient centred
Rated 1 star out of 5
by N R - Posted on 20 October 2022
My 86 year old father made a special journey to attend a pre-booked appointment for tests which had to be sent to St James Hospital. He arrived to be told that the clinician wasn’t available and the appointment had been cancelled . No attempt to notify my father by telephone had been made by the practice . He no longer is able to use a mobile phone or emails, and I have made the Practice aware of this by a previous eConsult I completed on behalf of my father. I am appalled that patient care and understanding of patient needs come so far down the scale of priorities for the practice. Surely it is a simple matter of updating the patient contact screen to record the suitable and appropriate means of communication. I am now struggling to work out how I can arrange for my father to get his Flu jab. The prospect of getting through to the practice by telephone seems to be highly problematic, given the numerous reviews I have read. As I live 100 miles away, it is not practical to just go along and queue up to speak to someone in person. EConsult is shut down, and the advice then is ring 111. How bad does it need to be for somebody to step in and sort this out?
Visited October 2022
Review titled The North Leeds Medical Practice
Replied on 24 October 2022
We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to us, as a practice we have reflected on your complaint, consultation, our performance, and best practice triggers. We are very sorry to hear that your elderly father attended our practice, only to find out that his appointment had been cancelled. We understand that this would have caused him great distress. Unfortunately, due to the lack of information available, we are unable to discuss anything in detail. However, we can confirm that, if we receive e-Consults to update a patient’s preferred method of contact, we ensure this information is updated. Therefore, we assume that your father’s record should also have this information updated. When pre-booked appointments are to be cancelled and the patients’ records specify telephone calls, then our reception telephone these patients to inform them of the cancellation. Unfortunately, there can be occasions where we are unable to contact the patient in time. This can happen if the clinician cancels at very short notice due to an unforeseen circumstance such as sickness. This could have been the situation in your father’s case. We can see from your review that you have questioned how to arrange your father’s Flu vaccination. We would like to confirm that as you have stated your father is 86 years old, he will be eligible to have his vaccination at our practice should he wish. We are able to book an appointment for patients who are over 65 years old at our practice. Alternatively, our reception staff will be able to book him in for a vaccination appointment at the Alwoodley Medical Centre if he wishes to go there. We are aware patients are unable to get through on the phone in a timely manner and we sincerely apologise for this. One reason for this is a shortage of reception staff due to sickness and vacancies. The receptionist role in a GP surgery is an extremely demanding job, with constant pressure and persistent verbal abuse from patients. Consequently, staff turnover is extremely high. This is a national issue and not just applicable to our surgery. We are currently recruiting new reception staff to rectify this, though this is an ongoing process. New staff are not able to step fully into the role when they first start, they must undergo a probation period where full training is given. We therefore encourage patients to use the e-Consult service on the practice website as an alternative if patients do not want to wait in the call queue. Patients can contact the surgery using this tool and should receive a response with advice and treatment from the GP by the end of the next working day. We take all your comments on board, North Leeds Medical Practice is constantly working to improve our services. Please accept our sincere apologies, once again, on behalf of the practice. We hope this response addresses the concerns raised in your review. Yours sincerely Rozma Ashraf Patient Liaison Officer North Leeds Medical Practice