Wellington Way Health Centre - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled Very worrying for patients
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 December 2022
I want to start by saying I understand the pressure the practice is under, almost certainly through no fault of its own. I have lots of sympathy with all staff members working in general practice. However, this year my experiences with the practice made me feel isolated/frightened. I felt (perhaps unfairly) that as far as the NHS and GP surgery is concerned, nobody is there for me; nobody will help. I began experiencing neurological symptoms at sleep onset in July this year. I could not get an appointment with the practice. I was told on one call I needed to fill in an online form (after which a GP would review and decide whether to call/arrange an appointment). I needed to call twice more before receiving the form, and when I did it was only applicable to people resident in Scotland. After persistent calling over a period of many days I managed to secure a telephone appointment that was (from memory) in more than 2 weeks' time. My symptoms in this time worsened to the point where I was sleeping between 10 minutes and 30 minutes each night (with seizures the rest of the time). I therefore couldn't work and could not wait for the telephone appointment (which I cancelled far in advance). I am financially lucky enough that I could pay c.£90 for a private GP appointment where I got a referral to a private neurologist (at which point I used my partner's private health insurance). Again, I can only be thankful to have access to these privileges. I have been seeing private neurologists for these serious health issues ever since. As well as not being able to get an NHS appointment, my consultant was extremely surprised that the practice won't issue a prescription for the drugs I need in order to work (and, I suspect, live). He contacted the surgery by letter to ask that I could have an NHS prescription, as the drugs are a little pricey over the long term, as it was becoming clear I would need them for. I received a text message from you to which I couldn't respond to say that I would not get a prescription, but the consultant could send a shared care guidance (which I was told by the consultant is clinically inappropriate and makes no sense). So, on top of using private medical healthcare, the practice's response means I fund my medicine costs myself, with a £40 admin fee every time I need a prescription. To conclude, I am 100% convinced that without my partners' private healthcare I would not be in employment now. I am so worried for the people in my local community that don't have access to the same resources I do, and who face feeling abandoned by the NHS and the practice, but without anywhere else to turn. I know this is a wider problem caused by underfunding, and I do not blame the practice. However, there must surely be some efficiencies or better service that can be identified (i.e. that form for Scottish residents, prescriptions for GP patients even where they were not able to go through the practice).
Visited July 2022
Review titled Wellington Way Health Centre
Replied on 03 January 2023
Dear Patient I am very sorry that you have been so unhappy with the service and that you were unable to get an appointment to see a GP. It is common for reception to send a link to you for you to complete an online consultation so that the doctor can triage your condition and try to give you an appointment as needed. Unfortunately, it seems that the link did not work for you but for me to be able to check which link was sent I would need to have your name. In relation to the prescription, there are some medications that need either a Shared Care Agreement or Risk Agreement in place for the GP to be able to prescribe. In Tower Hamlets we have an arrangement in place for certain types of medication. If you would like to email me directly I can look into the above and try to help, please email me directly on Debbie.russell@nhs.net Once again I would like to apologise and try to work something out for you. Debbie Russell – Practice Manager
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Review titled Extremely poor service and unprofessional
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 July 2022
Almost impossible to reach out to anybody over telephone. After multiple chase with reception team and was informed on multiple occasion I will get call back with updates but failed to follow up every time as told which was very unprofessional. Staff at the reception seems to be clueless and gap in communication. Practice Manager needs to review patient feedback carefully to ensure patient concerns are addressed.
Visited June 2022
Review titled Wellington Way Health Centre
Replied on 03 January 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to send in your feedback, unfortunately it would be really useful if we could contact you directly and find out exactly what what has been happening. We meet weekly with the reception team and can use this feedback as an example for our learning and to make things more efficient. I am sorry that you are unhappy with the service and we will strive to make the service better for the future. Debbie Russell Practice Manager
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Review titled Wonderful medical professionals
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 19 May 2022
Every time I have been to the practise the medical professionals who work there have been very caring given me lots of time and have ensured all my questions have answered. They have tried their best to see me as soon as possible and prioritised when my cases was more of an emergency. Sadly the same can not be said for the reception staff after recently having emergency surgery lack to pick up the phone for a good 20-30mins often tell me just to call 111. When in the surgery the nurse asked the receptionist to do something which they then had to clarify with us serval times. I feel my care after emergency surgery has not been adequate at this surgery as I’d expect to be able to at least get a hub appointment to look at my wounds.
Visited May 2022
Review titled Wellington Way Health Centre
Replied on 11 January 2023
Dear patient Thank you so much for taking the time to feedback both positive and negative views of the practice. We usually use this reviews for our learning purposes in meetings so we will definitely discuss this with our reception team. We are trying to improve the length of time patients are waiting on the phone lines, we also offer online services for patients who will then receive a call-back. Of course if you would like to discuss any of the issues raised I would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss. Please ask reception for an appointment to see me. Debbie Russell Practice Manager