We want to take a moment to update you all. As you know, our Facebook page is designed to share updates and information informally, and we work hard to keep you informed in an honest and transparent way. However, we’d like to clarify that we do not review, comment on, or respond to discussions on other community forums or pages.
That said, we always welcome feedback, ideas, and suggestions to help us improve our services. We actively seek patient input, and all feedback is regularly reviewed by our team. Where possible, we adjust our systems to enhance the service we provide. We are not able to discuss specific issues that are raised due to patient confidentiality and would always encourage patients to feedback to the surgery directly where we can provide a proper response.
In the past, we have organised engagement events and widely advertised them, but unfortunately, attendance has been low. While we understand that it’s difficult to find a time that suits everyone, we remain committed to listening to our patients and making improvements where we can. If you’d like to share your thoughts, our website has a feedback form—please feel free to use it.
Appointment system update
Before Christmas, we changed our appointment system in response to concerns that patients were struggling to book routine, pre-bookable appointments and that some found the online booking forms difficult to use.
Under the old system, patients had to complete a form on the day, which we would then triage before calling back with an appointment. However, this system wasn’t practical for many. Forms opened at 08:00, and we received feedback that parents on the school run, commuters, and elderly patients often couldn’t access them in time. The volume of the forms received meant that we had to close these forms after only a short amount of time, further limiting who could request an appointment. Many expressed frustration that we hadn’t returned to the way things worked before Covid.
So, we listened—and we changed it!
We reintroduced routine appointments, allowing patients to pre-book in advance. We also brought back the option to call the surgery and book an appointment over the phone, just as we did pre-Covid. This approach improves continuity of care, allowing patients to see the same clinician and build a relationship, which we know is very important. With same-day booking only, continuity is lost, as not all GPs and nurses work every day. By prioritising continuity, we believe we are providing better care for both patients and clinicians.
We have to find the balance where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. No one system is perfect. One unavoidable effect is that routine appointments typically do have a 4 to 6 week wait, which, again, was the norm before Covid. We recognise that these wait times are frustrating, and we are working hard to reduce them by the following:
- A new phone system went live last week to better manage call demand
- A new GP starting today (19th February)
- Another GP joining in April
- An additional phlebotomist starting in March
- Two new nurses joining the team
- A new healthcare assistant (HCA) starting in March
- A receptionist becoming an HCA role in April, after completing training
- Actively recruiting an additional GP (beyond those already appointed)
- Interviewing for extra reception/administrative staff
- Interviewing for an advanced nurse practitioner
- Reducing missed appointments by sending reminders and letters to those with repeated no-shows to minimise waste
Additionally, we regularly review and adjust our appointment types (on the day urgent as well as pre-bookable routine) based on demand. We also adjust appointments based on seasonal trends during the year. This dynamic appointment approach helps to ensure we’re offering the right balance as much as possible with the resources we have.
As we’ve said in previous updates, demand for our services exceeds what we can supply, and expectations of what we can realistically provide don’t always align with the resources available. We do not have unlimited funding. The surgery operates within a set NHS budget that we cannot go over as there is no extra £££. For each patient the contract we have with the NHS pays less than 30p per patient per day.
Some patients ask why we don’t send update letters to those who aren’t online. The honest answer is simple: we can’t afford to. The cost of printing, envelopes, postage, and the staff time required to send thousands of letters would be far beyond our means. Like everyone else, we must live within our budget.
That’s why we share updates through Facebook and our website, these platforms allow us to reach as many patients as possible without adding extra costs.
We want to reassure you that we are doing everything we can to provide the best possible care for our patients. We welcome any feedback via the form on our website.
Thank you for your patience, support, and understanding, we truly appreciate it!