Meon Health Practice - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled Always a disappointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Heather Vaughan - Posted on 03 November 2023
I have never known such poor medical service until whiteley surgery. It is disgusting that the only way an appointment can be made is to line up from 7:30am outside the surgery, to then fill in a generic snd symptom dismissive form, to then just hope you get a call back. Children in pjs forced to stand and wait while feeling unwell, elderly sat in the freezing cold waiting for doors to open just so they get a chance at being seen. Disgusting. I got to the surgery at 7:30. Waiting in the cold. was finally allowed in and had to fill in a form. Then received only a text message asking for more information. And then to top it off, the doctor replied in message with “yes it would appear that could be your diagnosis, but there’s nothing we can do for that, so he’s the criteria leaflet, if you think that’s the answer then diagnose yourself” Absolutely appalling !!! I now need to go back, wait again, fill out the form differently so I’m dismissed and hope a different doctor will see me. Disgraceful surgery.
Visited October 2023
Meon Health Practice has not yet replied.
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Review titled Jubilee Surgery
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Miles Foskett - Posted on 25 October 2023
Issues going on for a few months, held back from contacting due to negative reviews which indicated it was pointless and i know surgeries are busy. Eventually phoned as symptoms were really bad. Around 5.30pm yth in queue and a wait obviously. Got through pleasant reception and triage questions. Told i would get a call. It came in just under an hour. Medication prescribed, blood test, chest x ray and endoscopy arranged. Whats the fuss about. Ok i did not get in front of the GP but it all worked really well. Well done. The only comment i would have was the message "if you urgently need to see someone today" nearly made me put the phone down knowing they are busy and thinking well im not exactly dying. Thank you for an excellent experience
Visited October 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 06 December 2023
Dear Miles Foskett, Thank you for taking your time to write this five-star review about your recent experience with the Jubilee Surgery. We are so pleased to read that you had an excellent experience with the team, specifically the receptionist with who you submitted the triage questions with, and the GP who followed up this contact so quickly and offered you the clinical advice and care needed. Our staff all work so hard every single day, and it means so much to us all when we receive recognition of our efforts and we have already shared your kind words with the teams. We have also taken note of your feedback regarding the choice of wording on our telephone messaging and will revise if there are better ways of communicating to our patients and avoid any potential callers being put off contacting us due to the nature of their problems. Thank you again for your time in writing this review and we believe you will continue to receive this improved level of service the majority of our patients do receive. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled A Disgrace to The NHS
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 September 2023
Attended the surgery in considerable pain - greeted by a rude, & unhelpful receptionist who showed absolutely zero interest in helping me even make an appointment. Was told it was too late for a triage appointment (it was 09:45) and that I couldn't book an appointment in advance - all the in spite of the fact that the waiting room was empty!!! Had to leave before I lost my temper. These people have the nerve to call themselves medical professionals - in my humble opinion they are a disgrace to their profession & should be ashamed of themselves.
Visited September 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 04 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback and we apologise for the delayed response. We had been experiencing issues with our NHS Profile which are now resolved, and we are pleased to now reply. With anonymous feedback, we cannot investigate specifics, but we apologise for the contact you describe as a disgrace. Regarding a rude and unhelpful receptionist, we apologise for this and would ask you contact us directly if you wish this to be addressed. We will use your feedback to remind staff of how patients should be treated, and we trust this will not be repeated. Regarding concerns of the waiting room being empty and how this is connected to not being able to book an appointment, we assure you because the waiting room appears empty it does not mean our staff are not working extremely hard. As well as seeing patients face-to-face, consultations are completed by video or telephone, and there are large volumes of administrative work our staff are required to complete - for example prescriptions, reading results, actioning requests from hospitals and responding to patient queries. At the time of your review (September 2023) we offered over 4,700 appointments through our daily triage service which is an improvement to September ‘22 by more than 1,200 consultations. Included in this number were over 1,800 face-to-face appointments which we hope reassures you despite the waiting room appearing empty, we are seeing many patients in person. We currently offer a same day GP Triage service and, depending on clinical staffing each day, we offer as many ‘routine’ appointments as possible each day. With a same day service, although you may need to contact us on consecutive days before getting a ‘routine’ appointment, this is typically a much sooner and safer pathway than asking patients to wait up to six weeks for a ‘routine’ appointment. Regarding your label our staff are a disgrace, we are disappointed to read this is how you feel, and we understand how frustrating it is when you can’t get a ‘routine’ appointment when you feel you need one, but we ask you be patient and respectful with our staff in your contacts to us. It is also essential to highlight our staff can be required to work beyond the recommended levels to meet patients demand, and we must consider their health and well-being, as well as our patients. Should you wish to discuss this further, we ask you contact us in the following ways: 1. Completing a Complaints Form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a manager We trust this information helpful, and we believe we will deliver you an improved experience in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Lacking
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 01 August 2023
The receptionists have always been courteous and helpful but the service to patients since the three surgeries joined together has fallen through the floor. What has gone wrong? This is a long standing issue and the newsletters will promote all the things they are doing e.g. a walking group, but there doesn’t seem to be a truly compassionate understanding of the issues which include holding in telephone queues with the constant, unpleasant reminders to hang up if you are not very ill, switching off E-consult and a scarcity of routine appointments. These issues make it very stressful for patients to deal with the practice. For the most part, the individual staff are great but the three-surgery hub model doesn’t appear to be working, at least from a patient perspective. I wonder how they continue to get away with it - surely there is only so long they can say ‘we’re doing our best to improve’…this has been going on for years.
Visited July 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 04 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback and we apologise for the delayed response. We had been experiencing issues with our NHS Profile Manager which are now resolved, and we are pleased to now reply to our patients. With anonymous feedback, we cannot investigate or reply to specifics, but we apologise for the contact you describe as lacking. Regarding concerns of the service since our merger, we are sorry to read this is how you feel. We regularly monitor feedback on the NHS website where you submitted this review, our own website, written and verbal feedback received, and further official sources. The most recent NHS Family and Friends data, which is publicly available, we scored 91.8% positive experiences from patients in November 2023, but we are sorry to read this is not the service you describe. Our score in November also showed improvement from the October ‘23 data, and this has consistently improved each month since our merger in October 2021. We also do full audits of complaints to the Practice each quarter and our reviews show our numbers are going down consistently month to month which indicates improvements are being made. Regarding concerns of telephone access, we also track this data, and our November data shows our team responded to over 9,000 calls with the longest average wait time of 16 minutes and an average queue position of 11 during peak hours which is a significant improvement on our figures towards the end 2022, but our phone lines are of course busiest first thing at 8am. Regarding concerns of eConsult, a decision was made in April ‘22 to temporarily suspend this service and this decision in large part was based on patient feedback the system was difficult to use and not fit for purpose. We continue to focus on our telephone service and access to maintain improvements made with planned introduction of a new website and a return to digital access which we trust reassures your concern. You can read more about the planned introduction of digital access in our newsletter you have refer to in your review. Regarding concerns of appointments, we are sorry if you have not been able to get an appointment when you feel you need one, but despite employing two new salaried GPs in August ‘23, we, like all GP surgeries nationally, do not have enough clinicians to meet our patient demand. At the time of your written review (August 2023) we offered over 4,900 appointments through our daily triage service which is an improvement to appointments offered in August 2022 by more than 300 additional consultations with our clinical teams this year. We trust this information offers assurances we are improving, and we believe we will deliver you an improved experience in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Ridiculed by staff
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 15 June 2023
Tried to book a GP appointment at 9:45 and had staff laugh before saying I must do so at 8 and asking if I’m an early riser. I immediately walked out due to how rude this was. And surely we’re not so archaic you can only book an appointment at one time of day?
Visited June 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 04 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback and we apologise for the delayed response. We had been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager which are now resolved, and we are pleased to retrospectively reply to our patients. With anonymous feedback, we cannot investigate or reply to specifics, but we apologise for the contact which led to this disappointing experience you describe. Regarding concerns of our appointment system, we are working very hard to see as many patients as we can, but we like all GP surgeries do not have the clinical staffing levels to meet an ever-growing patient demand. We are offering a same day GP Triage service and, depending on clinical staffing each day, we offer as much ‘routine’ care as possible each day before we revert to an ‘urgent’ only offering. With a same day service, although you may need to contact us on consecutive days before getting a ‘routine’ appointment, this is typically a much sooner and safer pathway than the alternative and asking patients to wait up to six weeks for a ‘routine’ appointment. It is also key we highlight our clinical staff can be required to work beyond the recommended levels to meet our patients demands, and we must consider their health and well-being, as well as that of our patients. We continue to focus on improvements to the availability of appointments we have made with planned introduction of a new website and better digital access to address the need to improve further and increase our patient service and experience. Regarding concerns of your concerns of rude and ridiculing staff, we need to investigate these specifics to offer you a fair explanation. If you would like this to formally addressed, please contact us by one of the following ways: 1. Completing a Complaints Form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a manager We are sorry again to read of this disappointing experience with our staff and will ensure this is addressed with our teams as anonymous feedback for service improvements. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Bad
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 16 May 2023
I called to request a confidential telephone call to a doctor. The first time I tried I waited until I was next in the queue - then it rang and rang until I got cut off. I called again and got through, only to be told that I had to phone at 8 a.m. the next morning I explained I could not do that. The young girl on the phone asked me about my symptoms - I said I didn't want to discuss them with her and could I please speak to a doctor. She told me to go to the surgery (Whiteley). I did that and was told I could not fill out a form to request a call from the doctor and would have to go up there at 8 a.m. and complete a triage form. I said I could not do that. I asked if I could perhaps have a telephone call with a prescriber but was told no. Told to go next door to the pharmacy. The pharmacist was lovely but said she could not prescribe. I went back into the surgery and filled out a prescription request form - asking for my meds and the new item I needed. I explained on the form that should there be any queries about that medication then please call me. Left my landline number and my mobile number. Heard nothing. Then, this afternoon, I received a text from the prescribing team asking me to go to the surgery to ask the receptionist to fill out a request form. Why do I have to go, yet again, to the surgery, when I know full well that the receptionist will not let me fill out a form unless it is 8 a.m? They could so easily have given me a quick call to discuss, where I would have told them exactly what the medicine request was for. I have other instances of bad service from the surgery -from before the pandemic and since. I have not seen a doctor face to face for two years. I am not in the habit of phoning every five minutes and only contact them when I need help. I have received no help from them at all. Very upset. I shall have no option soon but to pay privately for medical help or buy my medication online. Going private seems is what is expected nowadays. There are numerous doctors names on the wall at the surgery, but no-one to help someone like me. I am 72 years of age. Upset!
Visited May 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 04 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for writing this feedback and can we apologise for the delayed response. We had been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager which are now resolved, and we are pleased to retrospectively reply to our patients. As your feedback is anonymous, we are not able to investigate or reply to specific concerns, but we apologise for your contact which led to this upsetting experience you describe. Regarding telephone calls being cut off, we had historical issues investigated and resolved by our telephone providers, and to our knowledge are no longer occurring. Regarding concerns of phoning to be told to call the next day, we do offer a same-day triage service and once our ‘routine’ appointment book is ‘full’ we revert to ‘urgent’ only care to ensure patients who need clinical support most are able to access care urgently. We can also assure you our telephone system play pre-recorded messages advising callers if we are offering ‘routine’ care to ensure no caller waits for any length of time to be told this information once they are connected to our team. These messages are updated daily as the Management Team review our capacity. As a Management Team, we must not only consider the safety of our patients, but also that of our staff, and at times our clinicians work beyond recommended levels to meet patient demand, and we trust this explains why these decisions are made. Regarding concerns of not discussing symptoms with a receptionist, we do ask staff to ascertain the nature of concerns as part of our daily triage and we understand some patients do not wish to divulge personal information to staff other than a doctor. All our staff are trained to discuss patient information including clinical presentations at point of contact, and our triage questions are designed by doctors, for doctors, to ensure we help our patients quickly and accurately. For reassurance to improvements made, we increased our on the day contacts by over 2,200 consultations from 2022 to 2023, and at the time of your writing (May 2023) we offered over 5,400 consultations, with over 1,900 being face-to-face. Regarding concerns of your prescription, we need to investigate this to offer you a fair explanation. If you want this addressed, please can contact us by the following: 1. Completing a complaints Form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a manager We are sorry again to read you felt upset and that we do not wish to help you in this contact to us, and we trust this information goes towards reassuring you this was not our intention. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Unsatisfactory & Inadequate Service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Deborah Weatherell - Posted on 04 April 2023
Having only moved to Whiteley 11 months ago, I registered with Whiteley Surgery. I was fortunate enough not to need to contact them until March for an urgent appointment. Despite my call at 8am, they failed to deliver this. When I tried to call to understand why I hadnt been allocated a telephone appointment, my call was cut off after being told by an automated voice message that they had reached capacity for the day. I therefore drove to the surgery, I was advised someone would call me today. They failed. I therefore had to sit in a walk-in centre for 4 hours only to be told they couldnt prescribe that I need. Finally I received a call from a Dr and they arranged for a prescription to be collected at Boots. This week I telephoned on a less urgent matter and asked for a future appointment. I was told as easter was approaching they could not give me an appointment even in the future. To me this is inadequate and highly unsatisfactory service. Whilst I appreciate the surgery may be over subscribed, they are still taking on new patients, but have a shocking service level. My old surgery in Totton was always able to see me same day, even during COVID! I will report this to NHS England as their inability to offer a satisfactory service is impacting on walk-in centres and hospitals.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Deborah Weatherell, Firstly, please accept our apologies for our delay in replying to you. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback. Having checked your records, we can see that you contacted us on the morning of March 15th to request an appointment. Your details were taken and entered into your records at 08.13, to which our Triage GP reviewed your presentations at 08.36, and you were text by our team at 08.39, all within thirty minutes of your contact, to confirm we booked an appointment for you. After three failed telephone encounters to you by our healthcare professional, a text was sent at 13.58 on March 15th, to advise you the telephone appointment would be rebooked and attempted again the next day, March 16th at 09.40. This rebooked appointment took place as planned at 09.40 the next day, and a prescription was issued with text confirmation by Dr Howden at 11.33 on the morning of March 16th. We also see from your records you attended the Urgent Treatment Centre at 13.55 on 15th March for the same symptoms you presented to us before the multiple incomplete telephone consultations and rebooked appointment that was completed the following day. Given this context, and the swift and proactive approach we took to your concerns, we are disappointed to read your opinion is that we offer an ‘unsatisfactory and inadequate service’ and our inability to deliver satisfactory service is impacting walk-in centres and hospitals. At no point did we defer you to a secondary health provider, and we have acted in the best interests to you as our patient swiftly and appropriately. Regarding concerns of access for future appointments and our offering of a same day service, we are working very hard to offer as many appointments as we can, but we, like all GP surgeries, do not have the capacity to see everyone. We operate a same day GP Triage and, depending on clinical staffing on the day, we offer as many ‘routine’ appointments as possible each day before we reach capacity. With a same day service, although you may need to contact us on consecutive days before getting a ‘routine’ appointment, this is typically sooner and safer than asking patients to wait up to six weeks for ‘routine’ appointments. It is also important to highlight our clinical staff often work beyond the recommended levels, and we have to consider their health and well-being, as well as our patients. Regarding concerns of the Practice being oversubscribed, unfortunately, we do not control the local authorities development to our catchment areas, and we would not defer the treatment to any patient who we are contractually obligated to care for, but we understand the frustrations you have with the system. We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Very poor service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 07 March 2023
I went to the surgery today as I tried to get through on the phone yesterday and listening to the recording it clearly said if it was not urgent sfor today to go to the surgery to complete a triage form. This is what I done and was there around 9.30. I explained could I complete a form as I have had bleeding from my rectum and pain for over four weeks. Was told that I could not complete a form and try again tomorrow. How very poor is that when all the adverts say to report bleeding. I burst into tears and left. I even pleaded could I complete a form to get into the system but no.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Patient, Firstly, please accept our utmost apologies for our delays in responding to your feedback. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback with us. As you have entered your feedback anonymously, we are not able to directly investigate or reply in detail to your difficulties contacting the surgery for your rectal bleeding, but we of course apologise for the ‘very poor service’ you have referred to as this is not the level of service we wish for you or any of our patients. Our telephone system does play pre-recorded messages to advise patients of our appointment offering each day, and this is updated daily depending on the clinical staffing we have each day. We apologise if there has been any miscommunication around the process of how to request an appointment at the time of your contact, but we do not advise patients who do not need to be seen urgently on the day to attend the surgery to complete a triage form. We are also deeply sorry to see that your contact to us led to you leaving the surgery in tears as this is not how we expect our patients to feel after their contacts to us. Depending on the clinical capacity on the day, our reception team are asked and trained to ascertain the clinical urgency or presentation of a patients symptoms which are then ultimately decided if the symptoms presented are ‘urgent’ by our GP Led Triage Team. We would trust that this full process was followed but apologise if this was not the case in your contact to us, or if the message was delivered in a way that left you feeling the way you did. Should you wish for these concerns to be discussed further, we would ask you contact us directly so we can investigate your specific experience. You can do this in the following ways: 1. Completing a complaints form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a member of the Management Team We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Swift service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Very satisfied patient - Posted on 03 November 2022
I have had an irritation on my scalp for over a week which was getting worse. I knew it didn't need a doctor's appointment, but a prescription for some lotion to calm the itch. Checking the NHS website it advised I could buy this over the counter, but on going to the pharmacy this isn't the case . I then phoned to find I was No.28 in the queue. Instead I went into Whiteley reception where a lovely, helpful receptionist gave me a form to fill in with my symptoms. That was at 10.15am today. By 12.45 I had a text from my GP (I had opted for that method of contact on the form) to say that a prescription had been sent to the pharmacy. Brilliant service! I know that my complaint wasn't urgent or serious in any way, but I felt valued and cared for in what is an extremely busy practice on another busy day. I applaud the staff and clinicians who endeavour to serve their patients under very trying circumstances day to day.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Patient, Thank you for taking your time to share this five-star feedback with us and apologies in our delay responding to your kind words. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you again for taking your time to share this feedback with us. It’s so nice to read our staff and clinicians offered you such swift service in treatment and care for your irritated scalp and we are so happy we can share your words of support and acknowledgement with our team. We know that access via our telephone services can be frustrating and we continue to work on improvements for these to improve our patients experiences. We are delighted to read the receptionist at Whitely was lovely and helpful, and your clinical contact was resolved within a few hours from the start to end of this care plan with us. Our staff are all working extremely hard in the very trying circumstances you refer to and we are truly grateful of this feedback you have shared as the recognition from our patients means so much to us all. Thank you again for your time in writing this review and we believe we will continue to deliver you and our other patients this level of experience in future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Rubbish Service- wont even answer the phone
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 30 November 2022
I am 73 and have a very bad chesty cough. On the web site it states I must contact the surgery. When I ring I am told there are too many calls and I cannot be dealt with. I am told to ring back. No wonder people don't use this service it is absolute rubbish. Sort yourselves out . It is supposed to be part of the Health Service!!!
Visited November 2022
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Patient, Firstly, please accept our sincere apologies for our delay in replying to you. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback with us. As you have entered this feedback anonymously, we are not able to investigate or reply in accurate detail to your difficulties contacting the surgery for your chesty cough, but we of course apologise for the ‘rubbish service’ you have referred to in this feedback as this is not the service we wish for you or any of our patients to have. Our telephone system does have an automated response when our telephone queues are at full capacity which advised callers to call back which is why you would have heard this message at the time of your contact. The reasons for these capacity restrictions are due to technical concerns that were identified by our telephone engineers when callers were being terminated while in the telephone queue or speaking to our reception team. We understand how frustrating it is when you are unable to contact the surgery when you feel that you need to and would ask you try to be patient and understanding of our staff who are working extremely hard to respond to you and all of our callers every day. For some context to the telephone systems that you refer to and the improvements we have made to these since your contact in November 2022, last month (November 2023) our team responded to over 9,000 calls with the longest average wait of 16 minutes and average queue position of 11 during peak hours which is a significant improvement on our figures towards the end of last year (your time of writing in November 2022), but our phone lines are of course busiest first thing at 8am. We continue to focus on our telephone service and patient access to maintain the improvements we have made with planned introduction of a new website and digital access in line with this. Should you wish for these concerns to be discussed further, we would ask you contact us directly so we can investigate your specific experience. You can do this in the following ways: 1. Completing a complaints form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a member of the Management Team We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager