YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled fast response
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 12 January 2024
Thank you for your unwavering commitment in difficult times, just to express heartfelt gratitude for the exceptional care by phone, face to face or requesting a prescription . Sincerely .
Visited January 2024
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 15 January 2024
Dear Anonymous Thank you for taking the time to review our service and your words of gratitude. I will share with my practice team who I am sure will be elated to read your kind review Many Thanks Sophia
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Review titled They're Amazing!
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Edyta Jedruszyna - Posted on 15 December 2023
Every time I visit this surgery, the receptionists are welcoming and helpful. The surgery its so well run and organised. All the Doctors are great, and always go the extra mile. All the years I've been a patient here I have felt respected and cared for. Thank you all of you.
Visited December 2023
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 17 December 2023
Dear Edyta, Thank you so much for your kind review of the services you have received. We hope to continue to not only meet, but exceed your expectations Many thanks again for your kind words Kindest Regards Sophia
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Review titled Seriously?
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 October 2023
Actually saw a Dr in August, who advised me to drop my hypertension medication and to monitor my blood pressure for a few weeks to assess the impact of this. The BP was OK for the first couple of weeks, but this week (& particularly yesterday) it has gone up alarmingly. I went online at 8am today, but by 8.11 the website had still not opened. I therefore rang (12th in the queue) & waited. When the receptionist answered, I told her about the screen not opening, to which she replied "it is now, so you have to go back on the website to book an appointment"! Seriously?? However, I said nothing & waited for a Dr to contact me. 2 hours later I had a text from a different doctor telling me to monitor my blood pressure for a week! So not only could I not get to see the doctor, but he wouldn't even speak to me so that I could tell him that I have already done this and have all my results already to hand. I have been a patient at this practice for 50+ years and, whilst the doctors and nurses are very kind, caring, professional and skilled, it is becoming impossible to get near them. All of this has happened since Covid - why can't things go back to the way they were before??
Visited October 2023
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 27 October 2023
Dear Anonymous Thank you for taking the time out to complete a review; in order to move forward effectively please can I ask that you submit a complaint via email to nhsbsolccg.receptionywhc@nhs.net? This will give us the opportunity to investigate your concerns in full. We have this week changed our appointment system moving away from our book on the day system so you really shouldn’t have experienced the medical appointment request form closed at 8.11am, I am hoping we can investigate this further if you are comfortable sharing your information. I am grateful that you have acknowledged that one of our efficient GP’s contacted you within 2 hours of you requesting advice, and followed our policy of asking you to monitor for a week – this is so the medical team can effectively devise a treatment plan for you. If you already have a week’s readings to hand, please do submit them via the website, it will speed up the process. Thank you for the positive feedback regarding our wonderful team and I hope you will experience the benefits of our new flexible appointment system. Kind Regards Sophia Raja
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Review titled handled with care
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 11 September 2023
A perfect combination of humanity, responsibility and compassion. A gift when everything in life comes to a standstill. Thank you also for the constant appointments and reminders.
Visited September 2023
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 11 September 2023
Dear Anonymous Thank you for taking time out of your day to rate us so highly and provide such glowing praise. As mentioned in previous responses; we can sometimes not acknowledge when things have gone right and so as an organisation, we are so grateful when we hear that we have made a positive impact on our patients health and wellbeing A great big thank you again! Sophia
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Review titled Lovely Practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by June - Posted on 03 August 2023
Lovely Kind and caring doctors and lovely reception staff , Everyone no matter how busy makes the time to listen and help .
Visited August 2023
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 03 August 2023
Dear June Thank you so very much for taking the time out to write such a positive review. It is greatly appreciated! We try hard to make the patient experience a positive one and are elated to hear when things have gone well Thanking you again Sophia
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Review titled Appointment system abysmal
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Lorna - Posted on 27 June 2023
Everyone can only book appointments on the day, not in advance ! Appointments apparently are on the online form at 8am yet I haven't seen an available appt on the system in approx a year. The voicemail message on their system points you to the none existent online forms and seems to ask you to stay away from the centre as if in covid times. In person, the surgery waiting area is deserted! At reception the staff have had different answers regarding booking appointments everytime I have visited the surgery. I have had a Tuesday morning prebooked doctors appointment back in March of which I waited a whole month for, but today was basically told that has never happened! But after pushing - it might be possible to have a cancellation for an evening or weekend! Doctors are only triarging over the phone, before inviting you into the surgery, usually last minute. This is unacceptable for those of us who actually go to work. You have to have time off just to try to get an appointment and again if and when you finally manage to get one. Once you do finally get an appointment, then you can only ask about one thing at a time! In my instance, with this system it's going to take years to get though everything I want to talk to a doctor about! I started a treatment in March and because I haven't been able to get a follow up appt, I'm back to square one. This system is a waste of everyone's time and money. Finally, if you try to use the suggestion form or the complaints form- both have been taken off the site !!
Visited June 2023
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 28 June 2023
Hi Lorna Thank you for your review and thank you for providing us the opportunity to address some of your concerns. To try and make things as clear as possible, I will breakdown your concerns into headings: Medical Forms for Appointment Requests. Our phone message does reference the ‘online medical form’ which is available through the Appointments tab on the website – this option does suspend once we reach maximum capacity, if you are struggling to find the appointments tab on the website, please do pop into the surgery and speak to one of our friendly receptionists who I am sure will be more than happy to demonstrate how to find the option on the website. Phone Message Having listened to our phone message this afternoon following your review, I can confirm there is no reference to ‘staying away from the practice if you have Covid’ Ways of Working We do triage calls and manage what we can over the phone wherever possible, however often, we invite patients into the practice at a time convenient for both patient and clinician. Thank you for referencing our quieter waiting area, we are working hard to manage clinic times to ensure the waiting area is not over crowded as it has been in recent times - this is to ensure we are managing the risk of cross infection and creating a calming environment for patients who are waiting for appointments. I am sorry you feel we are not accommodating to the working age, we do have early morning, evening and weekend pre-bookable face to face GP appointments which I hope you can benefit from moving forward. Our GP’s do only discuss one medical issue at a time, this is so they can safely discuss and appropriately manage your condition within the time constraints of your appointment. Finally, our suggestion and complaints forms have been removed from the website as this inbox is not actively monitored, patients have the option to submit complaints or offer suggestions via email, phone, letter, verbally or via the suggestions box in the foyer area of the practice. I hope the above has been helpful Kindest Regards Sophia
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Review titled Reliable service
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Philip Smith - Posted on 28 March 2023
I have been registered with the practice for over 40 years, I have never failed to be seen on the day when I needed to be seen, neither have I sought a same day appointment when it wasn’t necessary. On my most recent contact with the practice I was more than happy with the diligence of the nurse in identifying an underlying issue, I was then seen again next day by the same nurse before being handed over to the GP’s for a referral and further care both face to face and by telephone. The team operating and interacting exactly as you would want them to.
Visited March 2023
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 29 March 2023
Dear Philip Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a complimentary review. I have shared your review with the practice team to boost their morale I am really pleased we were able to meet your expectations and hope to continue the good work Thank you again !
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Review titled A nightmare to navigate through admin process
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 25 October 2022
I’ve been with this practice for a decade, not always been very happy with the services and the receptionists but you know, we all have our mood and I reckon they are not there to please us, they try their best, so most of the time I just sigh and move on and remain patient. We however need to admit that it is a fierce battle and nightmare to get through the admin process and finally get to see a GP or a nurse or an HCA and get some care. All appointments have to be booked on the day, at 08:00 exactly. If you go online at 07:59 it’s not open, if you try at 08:02 then you’re told all appointments are gone, come back tomorrow. You may get through, fill the form and think phew I’m in as you receive a confirmation. Then later you receive another message saying sorry all our slots have been taken try again tomorrow, if urgent call 999. And it is reproached to the public to wrongly use the A&E services??? Our child had high temperature over two nights yet we patiently waited thinking seing the GP would be enough but no, impossible to get through. Apparently some people can get some routine appointments, but how do they manage to get that is a mystery for us. The receptionists are all kind but not always very helpful due to the complicated admin process. We do have a child with Special Needs, who has been discharged by the Children’s Hospital due to being over 16years old and referred back to the GP. There are lots of follow up to be done but so far we are left in limbo. We had a routine thyroid blood test requested by the community paediatrician to be done, took it to the surgery as we cannot walk in the children’s hospital like we used to. They make it all complicated, I was told they can’t do it without a formal request, “go online and fill the form”, which I did. I went down to the surgery to show the blood test form given by the paediatrician. My bad. I was told they can’t do it as it is from outside and was asked to take it to the paediatrician for him to do the blood test in his hospital or in his own service. (Erm..?) I patiently explained and the ladies told me to wait for the following morning and book an appointment online with the GP. And they were very serious!!! Can’t anyone in that surgery sit down and work out the ridiculousness of their admin process. Ok, I’ll ask for an appointment with a GP for my child to have a routine thyroid blood test that has been requested by another competent doctor. And how much of the precious time of a GP will that take, my child does not need to see a GP, that’s a slot that can be used for someone who may be in despair of seing a GP, yet I’ll request a slot with one while all I asked for is to see an HCA….. Utterly ridiculous. Online system is great and may save time, but believe me there’s nothing better than talking to a real human being if that human being has a bit of common sense and would not make automated replies, we are not even asking for them to walk the extra mile you know…..
Visited October 2022
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 25 October 2022
Dear Anonymous Thank you for taking the time to share your views. I am sorry to hear of your struggles to book an appointment. As I am sure you are aware, we do offer an on the day service and the appointments are available for booking from 8am. We do however have pre-bookable evening and Saturday appointments (subject to availability) which can be booked via our online form by stipulating you would like an evening or Saturday appointment. Unfortunately, we only have capacity to arrange bloods requested by our clinicians and so do ask patients to arrange any investigations requested by any external clinician with the requestor. I would like to confirm, the booking team would not advertise calling 999 as a routine – the team would only advise this course of action for patients experiencing chest pains/shortness of breath or excessive bleeding. If the patient deems their symptoms to be life threatening then again ‘999’ would be the recommended course of action as we are here to support chronic/acute non-life threatening medical issues.
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Review titled Horrifying organisation
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Sophie Mousley - Posted on 18 August 2022
I asked the practice to register me urgently, as requested by A&E due to having an urgent gynaecological problem and requiring an urgent outpatients referral. It took 4 weeks of calling and asking the admin to process my registration and referral, before they finally registered me and I then had to make another call to ask them to process the referral. As a GP receptionist myself, a registration takes a few minutes whether it’s urgent or not so four weeks was an absolute disgrace, and having to chase up multiple times was irritating. I then needed to arrange a mental health review, and a blood test to which I was told I had to call up on the day at 8:30am. I asked can you not book a routine appointment, and apparently this isn’t possible. So for an ongoing mental health issue, I have to schedule a date to call the GP at 8:30am to probably end up having a telephone triage appointment and being unable to properly review the issue in depth. I managed to book a blood test, three weeks in advance. I arrived to find the doors locked, and the other members of the queue told me that they won’t open until 2pm. I went and sat in my car, assuming my appointment was for the wrong time and returned at 2pm. I went to the desk, explained I arrived at 1:40pm for the doors to be locked. The receptionist snapped at me and told me that I wasn’t here at 1:40pm because she let the person in after me, Mr ‘X’ (she actually said his name which is confidentiality malpractice). Wholly unprofessional to simply tell me I wasn’t there at the correct time. Who is to know to wait at a locked door? She was very rude and made me feel quite uncomfortable, so I asked to rebook. I have now been rebooked for another four weeks time. The organisation of this practice is just ridiculous, god forbid I required an urgent appointment. This ends up in patients just clogging up A&E and urgent care because they can’t receive appropriate treatment from their GP, causing more damage to the NHS on the whole. As soon as possible I will be moving elsewhere, as the treatment from this practice is just laughable.
Visited August 2022
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 25 August 2022
Dear Sophie Having studied your review I notice a few discrepancies which I would like to discuss further offline. Please email over your availability for a chat to nhsbsolccg.receptionywhc@nhs.net marking it ‘For The Attention of Sophia’ I am disappointed to hear you suggest the reason for high A&E attendance is directly related to ‘the poor organisation of GP practices’ particularly as you state you are a fellow primary care colleague. I look forward to speaking to you soon. Sophia
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Review titled Caring GP
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 August 2022
I booked and appointment without any problem using the surgery website in the morning . I got a text message to say the GP would ring me up. The GP rang me up that same morning, the doctor dealt with several health issues over the phone and gave me a face to face appointment for that same morning. I got a text to tell me the time to be seen. The doctor was exceptional, during the consultation I was given another appointment for the following day for further investigation. I received the appointment time by text again not only once but twice the second as a reminder. I saw the paramedic the following day who was pleasant and caring. I was reassured and taken care by the team regarding all my health issues which have improved after the phone call and face to face visits and I feel better. Thank you to all the members of staff during these difficult times
Visited July 2022
Review titled YARDLEY WOOD HEALTH CENTRE
Replied on 25 August 2022
Dear Anonymous Thank you very much for your kind and honest review. During the current times of intense public scrutiny it really does mean the world to the team to hear such positive feedback and to hear we are making a difference in what matters the most - your health. Thank you once again !