Devon Road Surgery - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled This used to be such an excellent surgery … what happened
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Patient - Posted on 09 March 2024
I have a long term condition since May 2023 , I became unable to work in August 2023 , I have been given monthly sick notes and advised to have physio . I have requested to see a Dr during these 7 months as yet still not seen one . I have had couple of telephone conversations the last one being terrible as the Dr had poor English and was just shouting at me because I couldn’t understand her !!!! I requested a real appointment face to face this last week to discuss the findings and diagnosis that I have paid privately for and now the GP is in receipt of MRI diagnosis and consultants letters , I was text and given a phone call appointment in 3 weeks time so again no face to face . In the last 7 months I have had numerous physio appointments at £40 a time , I then paid to have a video call with a private GP who referred me to an orthopaedic consultant which I paid for, he then sent me for 3 MRIs that I paid for , I saw him again which I paid for , I was then sent to another consultant which I paid for who recommended steroid injections which I paid for , I’m now back to having physio , I think the cost of this is well over £2k now . I have paid my tax and NI for 45 years and I have helped the NHS by going private for my treatment so why the hell am I constantly being refused a face to face appointment to discuss in person the future of my condition and how to manage my employment which is now not suitable for me . I don’t want to see a nurse pretending to be a Dr who every few minutes has to leave the room to go and ask the Dr a question in the room next door about me who then looks at my notes online and then the nurse comes back with a message…. this is chaotic and wasting time for everyone. This was such a good and respected practice and now it’s shambolic and some reception and admin staff are just toxic , a long term nurse who is a credit to the NHS even said it’s a terrible place place to work now . 2 Drs have left suddenly and a terrific senior partner took early retirement he obviously knew what was coming and wanted no part of it . If I have to use my savings to pay for private treatment will I get a rebate on my taxes .. of course I won’t . All I want after 7 months is to see a Dr in person and explain what has happened and discuss a way forward, I did actually get an appointment last month face to face and about an hour before got a phone call to say it had been cancelled due to sickness , so then got a phone call with the shouting women as she thought I was deaf I think because I kept saying I’m sorry I can’t understand what your saying . This surgery needs to be be reviewed and it’s complete refusal for appointments investigating . If I was offered a face to face with a GP last month ( i think it must have flagged up as 6 month fit note review ) why wasn’t I given one this month ??? So many questions but always same answer “you need to do econsult” which is geared to sending you to A&E for almost anything
Visited March 2024
Devon Road Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Phone System is a Joke
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 06 April 2023
I have been trying to call the practice for most of the day to chase up on a letter sent by my consultant. I even hand delivered a copy to make sure I had given them enough time to deal with request before the bank holiday as I need the certificate by first thing Tuesday morning. I have been on hold now for 15 mins and doubt they will pick up before I need to leave work! On the occasions that I have chosen to pop into the practice after work, several of the reception staff were larking about and not doing anything! Makes me wonder if the volume is turned down so that they can ignore the constant ringing.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Devon Road Surgery
Replied on 14 April 2023
We are sorry to hear that you had issues getting through to us by telephone. Unfortunately, owing to extreme pressures on our service, there are very long waits on the telephone. Administration turnaround times are also delayed, again owing to extreme pressures on our services. Sick notes can however be backdated. Regarding your comments about reception staff larking about not doing anything. Without knowing who you are and when this happened, it is very difficult for us to investigate further, however, I would say, late afternoons/early evenings are normally quieter on the phones so reception staff can then breath a sigh of relief and get administration done. It is not unusual for staff to chat and share a joke especially in such a stressful environment (they are not automatons) but this is never to the detriment of our patients and does not effect the service provided. If you wish to give us further detail I would encourage you to email us at complaints.g82088@nhs.net where we can properly respond to your comments.
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Review titled Prompt eConsult response
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Mary - Posted on 27 May 2023
I was not able to get a -bookable appointment via phone; when I expressed my medical symptoms via the eConsult, I wax given a prompt reply with a telephone appt.within 2 days; subsequently a face to face appointment.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Devon Road Surgery
Replied on 29 May 2023
Thank you so much for your review Mary, we are keen to get feedback as we move more and more towards digital triage. We feel this is the only safe way to ensure patients are seen by the right person at the right time. We are pleased that you felt this worked well for you.
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Review titled Rude and unhelpful
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 21 February 2023
I have been a patient at Devon Road for over 35 years, it used to be a very good practice but the last 2 years it has become completey unusable. The only way of successfully booking an appointment was via the myGP app but this has been stopped presumably because they were getting too much work from it... It is virtually impossible to get through on the phone and when you eventually do they put the phone down before you've even had a chance to open your mouth! This has happened 3 times over the last 2 days and many times in the past until I found the myGP app. Whoever is "working" the phones needs to be replaced immediately, sitting in a queue for over 30 minutes just to be hung up in is infuriating. I drove to the surgery to book in person and the shutters were all still down at 8:50...it should be open for patients at 8:30am no later. You look on their website for help and they are advertising for new patients! Ha what a complete waste of people's time that will be when they can't even service the patients they already have! 3 other family members have had the same issues with this surgery and many friends in the village also. Yet again I am going to have to pay for a private appointment because the service I am already paying for is non functional. I dread to think how people with speech problems are getting on with these receptionists. I am choosing to remain anonymous in this review because my neighbour made a constructive and politely worked complaint via their Facebook page a couple years ago and he was kicked off their patient list.
Visited February 2023
Review titled Devon Road Surgery
Replied on 27 February 2023
I'm sorry to hear that you are not happy with the service provided by the Practice. I would like to respond to a couple of points you raised: the appointment booking aspect of myGP was switched off as patients were booking in for inappropriate reasons and there was no way of triaging them. Because there is so much pressure on appointments at the moment, the decision was taken to instead direct patients who wanted to access online to doctorlink [last year] which has now changed to eConsult since January 2023. Regarding the phone issues you have experienced, we have recently had a new phone system installed. We are currently arranging a review with our telephony provider to make some changes and also investigate the 'drop outs' that some patients have experienced. I do apologise for this understandably frustrating experience. The shutters are normally open at 08:30am, I am currently investigating why they were not open on time and for this I do apologise. You question the fact that we are open to new patients. Special permission must be granted from the NHS in order for us to close our books and it would not be something that can be done lightly. We see no reason to close our books, pressure on appointments is not something that is affecting us in isolation, it is a nationwide problem. You are not the first patient to choose to pay for a private appointment and I do sympathise but unfortunately, we are doing the best we can under the current pressures. Your note about a neighbour being removed, this happens rarely and no patient has ever been removed for making a complaint via facebook. We would never remove a patient for making a complaint of any kind.