Kingswood Health Centre
Alma Road, Kingswood, Bristol, Avon, BS15 4EJContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled Worst practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 21 May 2024
I dread having to make an appointment with this practice , words cannot describe how useless the booking system is . I have been waiting for 4 months to get an appointment for leg pain and still haven’t got one , I have to limp to walk , it’s extremely hard to walk on . I have taken every painkiller that I could possibly find . The booking system is so bad it’s unbelievable , they will not get back to you . I have been waiting for blood tests about 6 months now , at this point I rather pay extra for private which I shouldn’t have to do with all the money I pay into the system . Kings wood health Centre , you need to take this booking system away hire more people on reception to handle calls . Oh by the way !!! I call every day exactly 8:30 am and guess how many people are waiting 43 ???? Really !
Visited March 2024
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 21 May 2024
Dear Patient I am sorry to read your review. However it is very difficult to respond to anonymous reviews as I am unable to investigate your concerns. Our surgery - like all surgeries - is under enormous pressure and we are regularly seeing over half of our list size every month. There is no funding available for us to recruit more staff - we wrote to our patients explaining this last month. A call queue of 43 people each day has been the case for many years now and our staff are working their hardest to get through the calls. The online system is there to reduce telephone traffic as all requests for appointments are dealt with in the same way. We are able to process requests within a few days and in most cases offer an appointment within a week. If this has not been your experience, please provide your details to me via kingswoodhealthcentre@nhs.net and I will look into this for you. Robyn Clark, Managing Partner
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Review titled Great Doctors, shame about the booking system!
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 27 November 2023
Haven't had to make an appointment for a while. When I did call about 10 days ago I was told we don't do it over the telephone you have to do it online, via the surgery website. Not too happy but went to the website and attempted to make a request for an appointment. This took a while and another phone call as I couldn't work out how to do it. I'm not totally computer literate but neither am I computer illiterate. Eventually my request went through and an acknowledgement text received. About 5days later was offered an appointment in a weeks time. Bearing in mind I was concerned about possible cancer, as mentioned in my request this was a little worrying. Saw a GP as appointed, which went well. Through examination, listened to my reason for concern, and reassured was unlikely to be cancer. Follow up with another GP suggested for noninvasive review suggested. Booking slip provided and told to book with reception. Took slip to reception only to be told had to go through the online process all over again! Definitely not impressed with this Booking system, and no idea how someone without a smartphone or computer would manage.
Visited November 2023
Kingswood Health Centre has not yet replied.
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Review titled New On Line System
Rated 1 star out of 5
by confused patient - Posted on 12 July 2023
Anyone else out there struggling with the new system for booking appointments? I have been trying to use it for days - it is either not available at all or I cannot find a way through the many questions and options, most of which do not apply to me. Today, I spent 39 minutes on the phone trying to sort out an appointment - I think I have a "pharmacy appointment" call booked for some time tomorrow. Apparently I have to go through all of this again in order to get help with another concern as this system cannot deal with more than one issue at a time. I have just tried to do this only to find out that the system as a whole is not available after 2.00pm today... How is this helpful to patients?
Visited July 2023
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 21 May 2024
Dear Patient I am sorry to see that you have had issues requesting appointments using our new system. The online form opens at 8am each day and is then closed when we have reached capacity. There is a message displayed when it is closed explaining the reasons for doing this. If you have a medically urgent problem it directs you to call us and our Reception team can take the details and pass onto our duty GP for triage. The system is designed to take as much information as possible so that we can appropriately navigate your request to the right clinician or service. We have a multi-skilled team of clinicians who can all help with different issues and we use this system to maximise their availability. We are incredibly busy - seeing 20% more patients than pre-Covid - and unfortunately we do not have the funding to recruit more staff to help cope. So the system is in place to ensure that patients are seen by the right person/service for their problem. If you are having trouble navigating the system our Reception team are more than happy to help and can demo it for you on the tablet we have in the waiting room. Once a request is submitted online, we aim to acknowledge within 24 hours and on average are able to arrange appointments within a week. Robyn Clark, Managing Partner
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Review titled Great Practice!
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 04 November 2023
I felt I had to write a review having read so many negative reviews from what appear to be people with no time to wait patiently while their problem is triaged, but apparently plenty of time to complain on the Internet afterwards. Like most GP practices and hospitals post pandemic, there is unprecedented demand in the face of tighter budget cuts and a recruitment crisis for GPs as their workload and working conditions become unbearable. So I am personally happy to wait in line so that my problem may be triaged properly and sent to the most appropriate person in the practice. The new online booking system is different and takes a little time to complete, but on all occasions that I have personally used it, I have had a call back within a few days and a satisfactory solution provided. So I personally have been happy with the service provided to date and will be happy to patiently wait next time I have a problem while the practice does their best to make me an appointment with the most appropriate clinician.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 06 November 2023
Thank you so much for your lovely feedback. We really appreciate it and I will ensure it is shared with the team. Robyn Clark, Managing Partner
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Review titled Telephone system is broken
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 March 2023
I phoned at 8am on the dot to try to get an appointment. The phone line returned a "line error" and also number not recognised. This was using two separate phones (one a landline the other a mobile). And yes I had checked the number as it was pre-programmed. I managed to get through at approx 8:20am and guess what? The appointments were gone. Your system cannot handle the capacity and, from my workings out, can only queue 6 people before and engaged tone. Line errors is a serious technical oversight that should be addressed as it us deeply unprofessional. I don't want a "we are training new staff"or capacity is low demand is high. I saw a review from December 22 with the same issue and still it remains. At least let more people queue: 6 is far too few.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 21 March 2023
Thank you for your feedback. We are aware of the limitations of our phone system but unfortunately have been tied into a contract for the last 4 years. We are in the process of looking at alternative systems which we hope to implement as soon as possible. However regardless of the telephone system we have, the demand for appointments remains the same and we have no ability to increase clinical capacity due to funding and premises constraints. We are also looking to introduce a new online consultation system to help navigate requests to the best option for their health problem which we hope will ensure our resources are being used as best as possible. This should be in place by July 2023. Robyn Clark, Practice Manager
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Review titled Poor management
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 07 March 2023
All practice staff nurses, doctors and receptionists work extremely hard and do their utmost to help. They are completely let down by the management and organisation. These front line staff are listed on the web site. Why is there no listing for the operational manager etc. This in itself makes one think they realise that things aren't run well.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 08 March 2023
Thank you for your review. The names of operational management team are listed in our patient information leaflet which is available on our website and on the "Meet the Team" page. Anonymous reviews are difficult to respond to as we are unable to investigate your concerns. As the Practice Manager I can assure you that the management of the practice and how it is run is jointly decided with the GP Partners and with input from the clinical team. If you would like to provide some detail as to how the practice is poorly run or have concerns over this you are welcome to make a formal complaint by emailing kingswoodhealthcentre@nhs.net. This will be investigated by our GP Complaints Lead. Robyn Clark, Practice Manager
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Review titled Communication
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 17 February 2023
I phoned the surgery on a Thursday and was fifth in the queue. I waited patiently until I got through but the phone rang and rang. Waited 30 minutes and nobody answered. I understand how busy the practice is but would suggest that it is pointless, and a waste of time, putting someone in a queue if the staff is not available to answer the call. Would it not be more sensible to have an automated message to say that the practice is temporarily unable to answer telephone? The automated reply on the phone also suggested the use of 'on line consultation' in non urgent cases but when I tried this route I got a message that it was 'temporarily suspended'. All very annoying. Once able to make contact I find the services of the surgery to be very good.
Visited February 2023
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 27 February 2023
I am sorry to hear you had trouble reaching us on this occasion. We have been made aware of a few instances of faults on our lines when calls have not reached the correct destination. We have flagged this with our current phone provider and are also looking to move to another provider which has better functionality. We suspend the online consultation tool when we have run out of appointments to offer patients and then reopen it when the next raft of appointments become available. We are incredibly busy at the moment and sadly this often means that appointments get booked up very quickly after we open. Thank you for your review and acknowledging that you are happy with our service when you have been able to make an appointment. Please rest assured we are currently looking into new systems to help make access easier and hope to implement these over the coming months. Robyn Clark Practice Manager
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Review titled disappointment
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by carolyn margaret olds - Posted on 05 December 2022
I tried to phone surgery Thursday morning, phones were out of action, so I got someone to take me there as I am unable to drive due to recent back surgery. I explained to reception that I had something looking like a blister in my eye, first seen previous day. She told me that doctors at this practice do not see patients with eye problems and I should go to Bristol eye hospital or Yate minor injury unit. In my present state , the only way to get to eye hospital would involve a bus, a wheelchair and help of a friend so decided to go to Yate. I saw a clinician who was very surprised I had come there, she diagnosed a condition called "Turgia" which needs no treatment at the moment and said it would have been diagnosed by my doctor immediately and that is what should have happened. Yate is for minor injuries and I made it clear to everyone that it was not an injury. Thank goodness we didn't try the bus option as that would have probably meant several hours wait as well! I have been a patient at this practice for over 50 years and apart from one or two hiccups have never encountered this problem before . The clinician at Yate said "it's like a tennis match at times, with one department trying to bat the problem to another department"!
Visited December 2022
Review titled Kingswood Health Centre
Replied on 09 December 2022
Dear Carolyn I am sorry to hear you did not receive the service you expected on this occasion. We are currently in the process of training multiple new Reception staff. The majority of eye-related problems do get seen elsewhere - either by an optician or at the emergency department at the Eye Hospital. On this occasion more information should have been taken regarding your condition and advice sought from the duty doctor on the most appropriate place for you to be seen. I will ensure this is fed back to our team. Robyn Clark, Practice Manager