Reply from The Neville Family Medical Centre
Thu, 11 Jul 2019 17:01:25 +0100
Thank you for taking the time to write about your perceived view of the practice. Although it is disappointing to read that you feel that the practice has changed since my father passed away in the way your describe; I feel I must respond specifically as some of the information is simply inaccurate.
The comment regarding seeing "whoever is there" is simply not true. Our permanent GPs all have regular sessions which do not change (as can be found on our website), and are the same every week and includes all sessions we run. GPs are also fully entitled to annual leave, and unfortunately sometimes also are sick themselves, and therefore cannot treat others if they are. On these occasions the practice will ideally utilise our current GPs if they have capacity, our second line is to utilise any GPs from our partner practice in Cheetham Hill, third line is to utilise our pool of three regular locums, and the absolute last resort is to utilise a locum externally. I therefore do take exception to the comment regarding a lack of continuity.
When the reception team ask the reason why you need to see the GP, this is to ensure that you are being seen by the right clinician; as is noted on our website and on posters we have up in our waiting room, you always have the option to state that it is personal, and no follow up questions are asked to counter the issue of privacy
It is great to hear that you have received a professional service by the GPs that you have seen. Empathy is a perceived emotion and is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. With all the will in the world, unless another person (including a clinician) has been through the exact same thing then it is extremely difficult to fully understand the experiences of an individual. However, in the outcome of the consultation, a clinician’s judgement and medical advice should not be perceived as a lack of empathy.
Yes, there are absolutely some patients who do begin to wait earlier than the organisation is open, you will note from the news both locally and nationally that this is not the only practice that patients chose to do this at. We specifically deploy our prescribing nurse to triage the doctors list to deal with minor ailments meaning that more people can be seen quicker, and also more people will therefore have the opportunity to see a GP as those slots are then opened up.
With access to appointments being a premium up and down the country, our system gives higher availability than we have demand for. This is exemplified by the fact the across the month of June we had 115 appointments available with a GP that were not used. We do this to make sure that our patients are able to be seen when they need to be seen - on the same day. You can also get to see a GP in a timed appointment in the afternoon on the same day also if you call the practice at 8am.
Like all other areas of the health service, General Practice is under a huge amount of pressure, both financially as well as regarding the number of GPs that are either leaving the profession, going abroad or even young doctors choosing not to go into General Practice at all. As such, over the past five years (both before and after my father passed away) General Practice has had many changes forced upon it from central government.
At the same time, we have made so many positive changes in this time period including, but not limiting to: the car park resurfacing and expansion, the new power assisted front doors, the conversion of the patient toilet become more spacious and DDA accessible, as well as being more family friendly with the addition of baby changing units; a full top to bottom refurbishment of the premises; increased the number of weekly GP sessions from 13 to 15; increased the amount of nursing time with the addition of another part time practice nurse, increasing the amount of support staff hours to ensure quicker turnaround of tasks, started to open on a Wednesday afternoon, |
