Norton Medical Centre
Billingham Road, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, TS20 2UZContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Very poor
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 January 2023
I joined the practice a few years a go having moved to the area and unfortunately the service has got increasingly poor. I have a baby boy who was poorly over the last few months. When I needed to telephone for an appointment I would call at the appropriate time in the morning and the line would either be busy, or when I got through after being on hold for between 1-2 hours the automated messaged would say no appointments whatsoever are available. This was often after ringing up to 30 times to just get through. When I had an appointment it would be telephone only, and I could be called any time during the day. The most recent time my baby was poorly I had a physical appointment following a telephone call and my sons symptoms were completely ignored as I was effectively told by the doctor they couldn’t see in to his throat and his ears were too waxy to check thoroughly. The following day I had to take him to urgent care where he was diagnosed with an ear infection and tonsillitis, both of which were completely missed. Following this I rang to ask for a further appointment as my baby got poorly again. I was simply told he could not be seen that day as they were over capacity and I would have to call back in the morning. After some begging I was told the doctor would call me the following day, and he did not. Absolutely appalling and very upsetting that an NHS service is in such a bad way. Reception staff are as helpful as they can be given the circumstances and pressures but missing an appointment for a poorly baby is inexcusable.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 11 January 2023
I am sorry to hear of the occasions we were fully booked to safe capacity when you contacted to request an appointment, I appreciate this can be frustrating. We, like all NHS Services, are under immense pressure and have to rely on patient's patience and understanding that we are working to maximum capacity. Each working day more same-day and future bookable appointments are released, which is why our Reception Team will advise patients to try again at a future date. The number of pre-bookable appointments is limited to ensure that patients can also access same day appointments for acute problems, as we do not have unlimited resources. We can only safely provide so many appointments each day and thus the more routine appointments we allow to be booked in advance, the less appointments there are to meet the same day needs, and vice versa. Once our appointments are fully booked to safe capacity, we prioritise triaging acutely unwell children and palliative patients. We are not an emergency service and work alongside 111 to try to meet the needs of our patients. Anyone unable to reach us who feels that they will come to harm if they do not receive medical assistance should contact 111 online in the first instance, or ring 999, where appropriate, to access emergency services. We will continue to do our best to deliver as many appointments as it is safe to do so. I am sorry that you did not receive a phone call as expected. When a patient raises a concern through our complaints procedure we can undertake a full investigation, including utilising the call recording feature where necessary. Learning points from complaints and incidents are then discussed at dedicated Reflective Practice meetings, to allow us to share lessons and improve patient care going forwards. Unfortunately, as you have left an anonymous review I am unable to investigate your claim further, but encourage you to officially report the incident to the Practice to allow me to do so. Thank you Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled So different from what it was
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 August 2022
Rang today to make an appointment for up to 3 weeks in the future, no rush just required a face to face appointment with a Dr to discuss some seriously upsetting results. Told ‘No appointments for tomorrow’. I explained I didn’t expect one immediately, next couple of weeks is fine. Told no future appointments available and to ring in the morning when some ‘May be released for next week’. Seriously what is going on? There are some amazing Drs at Norton Medical Centre, to the extent I have said in the past that if I moved home I would have to stay within the catchment area as I wouldn’t want to leave the surgery but I cannot fathom why I cannot book a face to face appointment to discuss seriously worrying results within a time frame of three weeks? That seems to me to be poor patient care.
Visited August 2022
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 09 August 2022
I am sorry to hear our future-bookable appointments were fully booked to safe capacity when you contacted Reception. Please see previous review responses which provide detail about the national GP shortage, which may help you understand the multitude of factors that result in difficulty obtaining an appointment. It is disappointing that being fully booked to safe capacity could be considered poor patient care. Although this is not the service we strive to offer, we, like many other Practices in the UK, are struggling to meet the current level of demand for our services, which exceeds our resource on a daily basis. Despite this, external statistics from NHS Digital show in April (the most recent data available) Norton Medical Centre provided 1 appointment for every 2.52 registered patients, which is higher than the local average of 1 appointment per 2.91 patients. On the day you left this review, our duty Doctor provided appointments for patients with urgent requests until 20:30, with the other GP Partners logging off at 22:24 and 23:36 after completing a full clinic, followed by administrative work such as filing blood results, clinic letters and answering tasks queries. Each working day more same-day and future bookable appointments are released, which is why our Reception Team will advise patients to try again at a future date. This is a limited number to ensure that patients can also access same day appointments for acute problems. We can only safely provide so many appointments each day and thus the more routine appointments we allow to be booked in advance, the less appointments there are to meet the same day needs, and vice versa. We are not an emergency service and work alongside 111 to try to meet the needs of our patients. Anyone unable to reach us who feels that they will come to harm if they do not receive medical assistance should contact 111 online in the first instance, or ring 999, where appropriate, to access emergency services. We will continue to do our best to deliver as many appointments as it is safe to do so. Ultimately, we do not have unlimited resources and are currently working to maximum capacity. I wish I was able to tell you that I will take the necessary action to rectify this situation, but in reality I can only guarantee that the staff and doctors at the Practice will continue to work as hard as they can to deliver the best service they are able to provide within the limitation of the resources they have at their disposal. I empathise with your frustration, as we are also frustrated. Please consider signing the British Medical Association's petition calling on the U.K. Government to provide the funding and commitment needed to urgently increase the number of GPs, practice nurses and other practice staff and to improve the premises in which they work, to request change from those with the power to make change.. The link can be found on our website.
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Review titled Great service - three times!
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 August 2022
Yes the practice is stretched, but everyone is helpful and lovely! Called for an appointment but they were all gone so the receptionist recommend e-consult, she told me when it would be on and what to expect. I was recommend to have blood tests, which I was able to book online and the nurse I saw for this was lovely. Today I called for blood test results as I was unable to view online, yes there was a bit of a wait on the phone but my call was answered and the receptionist really clearly took me through each result, the comments left and advised me of what I need to do to get the view results option on the online service. Everyone I’ve encountered is helpful and lovely, worth the wait times (which are being experienced across the country, not just here!)
Visited July 2022
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 09 August 2022
Dear Patient Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. I received the email notification while working late after a particularly challenging period and feel compelled to admit how much of a positive impact it had on me personally - thank you. It means so much to all the staff at Norton Medical Centre to read your kind words. Although we may not have the resources available to meet demand, we are committed to providing a good service to the patients we have capacity to care for, as well as treating all patients with care and respect, so it is uplifting to hear that on this occasion we appear to have achieved that goal. We rarely receive feedback when something goes right, so it's fantastic to hear of your positive experience using an eConsultation, as well as knowing our team provided helpful assistance to use Online Services in the future. I would like to express our gratitude for you taking the time to leave this honest and understanding review. Thank you for reminding us why we continue to work hard, despite the challenges we face. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Dreadful Service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 09 August 2022
I fully appreciate the pressures that GP surgeries are under at present and was simply attempting to call to make them aware of a mistake with my repeat prescription. 2 separate periods on hold, 18 minutes and 44 minutes, only to have the phone put down on me when I reached the head of the queue. Why would a practice not even attempt to adapt to the pressures that are mounting on them? Same old poor service, same old indifference. I will be leaving this practice as soon as this review is complete.
Visited July 2022
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 10 August 2022
Dear Patient I am sorry to hear your call was cut off, I appreciate this must have been frustrating. It is not clear if the incident was the same day the review was left, but based on this assumption I have reviewed the call report from 9th August 2022; the longest wait time was 22 minutes and 36 seconds (with average wait time 2 minutes and 24 seconds). Therefore, it does not appear the 44 minute wait you refer to was connected to our system. Unfortunately, as you have left an anonymous review I do not have access to your name and number. Without this, I cannot log a report with our telephone providers, or arrange for a member of our Prescription Team to contact you regarding your prescription, but I apologise again for your experience. We are currently looking at alternative telephone systems with the help of our commissioners, hoping to provide patients with more options when waiting to contact the Practice. This is one of many things that Norton Medical Centre are working on in the background, in response to the national challenges faced by General Practice, while also providing more appointments per patient than the local average. We both rely on and appreciate our patient's understanding while our team continues to work incredibly hard under the pressure you referred to. You are under no obligation to stay registered at Norton Medical Centre and are able to register at another Practice within your catchment area. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Great staff but in crisis
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Angela D - Posted on 13 June 2022
I don’t understand why there is such a shortage of GP’s nationally but it’s clear that this practice is in crisis. E consults are unavailable by 9 am Monday morning. Can’t reach you by phone. Don’t feel well enough to visit physically. If I call 111 they will say call GP. And vice Versa, as happened last week. All the staff and the GP’s are superb when you can reach them and have been great helping with my parents. Have you thought of grading patients according to their circumstances for example my father has ongoing health issues and at 86 really needs to be looked after by 1 or 2 specific GP’s who can then treat him better. I never see the GP twice anymore so they don’t understand my whole situation or else they have to take extra time to figure it out. Thank you for what you are able to do and I hope nationally something will be done as currently it’s impossible to get help and support when you need it.
Visited June 2022
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 16 June 2022
Dear Angela Thank you for taking the time to write a review and I am delighted to see your positive comment regarding our staff. The BMA website provides helpful information about the multiple factors that have resulted in a national shortage of GPs: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/an-nhs-under-pressure We have been trialling offering eConsultations from 13:00 since March in attempt to provide more capacity throughout the day. You may therefore wish to check the availability of the service from 13:00, but please note this is subject to change. We are trying different approaches to the appointment system to provide the best service we can within the safe limitations of our resource. Our commissioner advised us to refer patients to 111, unless 999 was clinically indicated, when we are fully booked to safe capacity, which is why we advise our patients this. We must provide 111 with 9 protected appointment slots daily, for them to book into when our patients call them. You can provide feedback about the way 111 deal with these calls via: https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/complaint/#feedback Each patient is allocated a named GP who oversees their medical record and long term condition management, reviews correspondence from other Healthcare Providers and undertakes medication reviews. However, our Practice is largely made up of part-time doctors and we are a training Practice that is assigned GP Registrars on rotation. We also engage locums to cover GP absence rather than reduce appointment availability for our patients and, although these GPs may be unfamiliar, they can access patient records and have the appropriate skills to address patient health needs. Accessing a single GP is dependent on matching their availability with both patient and appointment availability, which is increasingly difficult when demand for appointments is so high. I appreciate the suggestion, but we are unable to grade patients based on their circumstance due to the complexity of health & social needs, and the lack of official guidance prioritising them. In addition, this would restrict access to new patients who may have serious undiagnosed problems because they would not be graded appropriately. We are not able to dictate which patients have higher needs to access a public service beyond triaging the patients who contact us based on clinical urgency against appointment availability. Although there are some areas we can change as a Practice, the majority of our systems are implemented to meet the requirements of our contract, which is provided by NHSE, therefore we often do not have scope to make significant changes such as implementing a grading system. Thank you for your comments and please get in touch with any future suggestions, and if we can make a positive change we will certainly do so. Please see https://rebuildgp.co.uk/ for ways you can help us help you. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager