Trying to get an appointment is a nightmare. I fully understand anyone just giving up. The female doctors are much better at listening, understanding and helping you. They must be short of funding.
Original Comment Report...

I'd like to leave two separate reviews here although the star rating above is necessarily an average: 1) I have always been impressed and grateful to all the staff (clinical and otherwise) at the practice. The GPs, for instance, are very competent, human and helpful and have no issues whatsoever with them. I am obliged to all the staff for their competence and professionalism. I give 5 stars here. So, now for review number 2): As reported by many other patients it is almost impossible to get an appointment in a timely fashion with any GP, let alone a gp of your choice. I have been quoted 6 weeks to see the gp of my choice (I have a specific condition in which that GP specialises). I do get and understand the message that GP services are under increased pressure but cannot see that the Hadleigh practice is taking substantive measures to address that problem. The obvious answer is to recruit another GP as opposed to tinkering at the edges with new appointment systems, outsourcing, paramedics etc. This is an attractive place to work and live and I would imagine that it would be relatively, at least, easy to recruit an extra GP. You may know that Corfe Mullen is due to undergo massive expansion in the near future. I dread to think that if the Hadleigh practice cannot cope now, how it is going to cope in the future. One of the problems as I see it, and as admitted by you, is that you have too many part timers. If in my employment I had chosen to make such a lifestyle choice, and I was paid well enough to make such a choice, I would feel it my responsibility to make provision to cover my absences. This is particularly important in the medical arena. Many other patients have pointed out the plain obvious: we can’t schedule our illnesses to suit short working practices. Why aren’t you employing sufficient locums to cover the shortfall? Again, I understand that, like the rest of us, GPs deserve and need time off, but if you are choosing to work at such a stretch then patient care will inevitably suffer. I think that you need to put a plan of action place to address the fundamental problems that you (and we!) are experiencing.
Original Comment Report...