Witton Street Surgery
162 Witton Street, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 5QUContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Poor digital service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Steve Barr - Posted on 27 May 2025
Following my last efforts to use the NHS Digital Services today I attempted to book an appointment at 8:00. I got through at 8.07 and the web page told me that all triage appointments for today were already taken. I could not progress further. This is as bad as the telephone system we had hoped to move on from. Come on, we deserve better than this.
Visited May 2025
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 27 May 2025
Thank you for your comment. We have had extra clinical staff in today as it was the first day back after the bank holiday. We are at a loss as to why the web page told you there were no triage appointments 7 minutes after we opened. As far as I am aware no other patients had any difficulties. We have been receiving health forms for most of the day and the duty doctor has been triaging. Please contact the surgery and we will try and sort this out for you.
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Review titled Can't make an appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Steve Barr - Posted on 28 May 2025
Following earlier efforts to make an appointment I tried again today and I got through spot on 8:00 but the website told me that to-day's triage was already full, before 8:01, so I couldn't make an appointment. I repeat, today's triage was full before 1 minute past 8. The system is not fit for purpose. I have been told by 2 nurses that I need to see a GP (not life threatening). How can I make an appointment. It's impossible!
Visited May 2025
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 28 May 2025
Thank you for your comments. As previously we have not reached capacity and following my phone call to you this morning hopefully we have now rectified the situation. As discussed we are more than happy to to help you if you are having difficulty with the new system, please just give us a call.
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Review titled Very poor digital service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Steve Barr - Posted on 22 May 2025
Today I visited the nurse and was told to make 2 appointments using NHS digital services. 1 - tried to book a appointment at the Cheshire Phlebotomy - Victoria Infirmary and could not get the system to send me the passcode to my mobile. I checked and the number was correct, I could receive message from others. 2 - tried to book a GP appointment only to be told I have to do it at 8:00 a.m. the next day. The system couldn't queue my triage request. What is going on! I worked for 30 years in the IT industry and can say this service is appalling. If you want to go digital make sure your business processes and digital processes are fit for purpose.
Visited May 2025
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 22 May 2025
Thank you for your review, we are sorry you are not happy with our digital service. Unfortunately we have no control over the Cheshire Phlebotomy IT, you will need to contact them if you wish a response. However, we will try and address your concerns regarding our digital triage requests. We do have to set a limit on the number of health forms we can receive in a day to be clinically safe, in order to control the numbers that can be safely triaged by the reviewing clinician. The capacity level is set differently each day depending on demand and available slots and we constantly audit the ratio of appointment requests versus the number of appointments we have available and increase depending on demand. We do, as a safety net, inform patients to telephone the surgery once capacity is reached if they feel an urgent appointment is required or they need to speak to us. With regards to queuing of the health form this is not enabled, as without a cap we run the risk of there being an uncontrolled number of health forms ready to triage at 8.00 am reducing the capacity for that day even further. Unfortunately due to us not being a 24 hour service we do have to have a cut off point so that we can offer a clinically safe system, the same as we would have done with the previous system of phoning at 8 am.
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Review titled conflicting information and poor standards in service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Prasad Deshmukh - Posted on 29 May 2025
my recent attempt to access care through witton street surgery was nothing short of infuriating. i tried to fill out a dfd form, but was repeatedly met with an error 404 – page not found. this wasn’t a fault with my internet connection, it was a server-side error – your end, not mine. when i called reception, the person on the other end blatantly lied, claiming that staff were instructed not to fill in forms for patients. hang on – your own pre-recorded message clearly states that if you are digitally enabled but struggling, you should call and a team member will assist in completing the form for you. well, due to the surgery’s broken system, i was not digitally capable – and your staff were not willing to help. after insisting she couldn’t help, she finally sent another link – which, unsurprisingly, gave me the exact same error. so the issue clearly wasn’t me. to make matters worse, the online system showed no appointments available – yet when i called back and spoke to someone else, suddenly there were appointments. how does one system say nothing is available, while another tells me otherwise? it's contradictory and chaotic. after wasting over half an hour trying to deal with this, i had to call again, only to be offered an appointment at a time that no longer worked for me – all because of delays caused by your broken process. not only is this frustrating, it’s downright obstructive. before, you could call later in the day – after 4:30 or 5:00 – and get an appointment. many of us work during the day and rely on those later slots. now, with your new system, that flexibility is gone. it seems the new setup is designed for the convenience of the gp surgery – not the patients. witton street surgery is making it harder, not easier, for patients to get care. and that is completely unacceptable.
Visited May 2025
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 29 May 2025
Dear Mr Deshmukh Thank you for taking the time to register your comments with regard to your recent experience with Witton Street Surgery. We apologise that on this occasion you felt that our service was not satisfactory. We have been in contact with our IT Service provider to discuss the issue you describe and they confirmed that there were no IT outages this week which would cause such an error with functionality on their behalf. Our Reception Team have been trained to encourage all patients who are digitally enabled to use the Digital Front Door in the first instance, and if patients experience an ongoing problem with access via this route then the team are able to submit a Health Form to the GP on behalf of the patient. The GP appointments and booking links are allocated by the Duty Doctor, and not the Reception Team. GP appointments on the day are offered out in time order and according to medical priority, alternatively patients are able to request a pre-booked appointment either by telephone or face to face, where they are available. Please do not hesitate to contact us via email cmicb-cheshire.wittonstreetsurgery@nhs.net if we can be of further assistance. Thank you and regards
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Review titled Terrible
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Eric Cunliffe - Posted on 29 May 2025
Went to see a doctor in March after a fall. He told me if anything go worse or wasn’t getting better to get straight back. After a couple of months my leg started to get worse. Got in touch with the doctors and they said they would not see me. After ringing and insisting I got an appointment with a doctor who didn’t know anything about my problem and I had to ask him for a private referral My leg has got worse in this time and I have had to leave work yesterday . I rang the doctors for a sick note and was told that I would have to see a doctor today so rang up this morning . I was told that I am not allowed to see a doctor for a doctors note Why was I told yesterday that I have to see a doctor for my doctors note?
Visited March 2025
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 29 May 2025
Dear Mr Cunliffe Thank you for taking the time to submit your concerns. Unfortunately, due to the personnel nature of your feedback we are unable to respond to your comment in this forum. If you would like to send an email through to cmicb-cheshire.wittonstreetsurgery@nhs.net with full contact details, we will be happy to investigate this further via medical records and telephony recordings and feedback to you in due course. Thank you and regards
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Review titled disappointed
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Kathy - Posted on 14 April 2025
I used the new login for the first time. Was triaged quickly but was unable to sort out an appointment. Felt the whole system was dehumanising.
Visited March 2025
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 14 April 2025
We are sorry to hear you were unable to sort out an appointment. The triage system is new to the surgery and we are pleased that you were triaged quickly. We do ask patients to phone and speak to our reception team if they are having any difficulties, especially in this early phase. The new system does reduce the 8 am morning rush and all appointment requests are triaged by a doctor, ensuring that those patient's who require an urgent appointment are seen and those who don't can book an appointment in advance. Please call the surgery if you require help or wish to discuss the matter further.
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Review titled Great Practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 07 August 2024
Rang for appointment,liked the new numerical place in queue system got an appointment first thing in the Morning and received a follow up call nearly two weeks later from receptionist,amazing service.
Visited June 2024
Witton Street Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Great Service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Pippa Caldwell - Posted on 13 April 2024
Called for a GP appt, message on the voice messgae was clear, informing me of the process and where I was in the queue. I was triage by a competent and compassionate receptionist and informed a GP would triage and decide on plan, I was called back with an appt time for the same day. The GP consultation was thorough, collaborative, patient centered and compassionate. I felt like I mattered. Thank You! Fantastic Practice, really gold standard.
Visited April 2024
Witton Street Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Reception hanging up on calls - impossible to get through
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 29 November 2023
Only ever tried calling the surgery twice (different days/times). Considerable wait to get through, only for reception to answer the call and immediately hang up...
Visited November 2023
Review titled Witton Street Surgery
Replied on 05 December 2023
Thank you for your review. Unfortunately we are having technical issues with our telephone system, causing it to intermittently terminate calls when answered. I can assure you that our receptionists are not hanging up. We have reported this to our IT Department and they are investigating it. It has been known for a while that our telephone system is out of date and we are actually going over to a cloud based system within the next 4 weeks. We are hoping that this will end all the issues we have present.
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Review titled Excellent practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Steph - Posted on 06 October 2023
I recently switched to this practice after years of poor service at another, and wow, what a breathe of fresh air! Friendly, helpful receptionists, easy to make appointments, and Doctors who are willing to take their time with you and seem to care. Can't thank them enough!
Visited October 2023
Witton Street Surgery has not yet replied.