The Wall House Surgery

First let me say my issue isn’t with the doctors, Dr Louis, in particular, is a credit to her profession. We all know the NHS is being destroyed so waiting weeks for an appointment will surprise no-one. My issue is with the administration which is slow and frustratingly disorganised. Letters from consultants go unread, treatment is not joined up (for example I was given blood pressure medication that, unbeknownst to me was contraindicated for my glaucoma). Referral requests go unanswered, where a simple auto-reply could manage expectations, calling requires your fingers poised to dial at 7:59:55 to avoid being number 30 plus in the queue and everything requires chasing to get it done. Going to the surgery doesn’t help as the practice manager doesn’t have the courage to show her face so the poor receptionists are left in the line of fire. The surgery didn’t schedule an ambulatory blood pressure test despite the request of my consultant, so I went in person, only to be told it would be a three week wait as “we only have one”. Querying on Twitter I was told it was three, like that makes it any better. Apparently there are 21,000 patients on the books and it’s clear there neither enough doctors nor administrators employed. But even taking that into account, there’s no excuse for poor communication, continuing “due to Covid” messages and general failure to manage expectations. I notice the ability to complain has been removed from the website, perhaps symptomatic of an unwillingness to engage with patients

If you are able to choose any alternative practice in the area, I would strongly recommend doing so. This is the worst surgery I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.