The Medical Centre Greenhill used to be really good, but I feel as it has gone down massively in the last year.
- It seems to me that non urgent waiting time for an appointment is around a month with the popular doctors.
- They introduced an online booking system for booking appointments in which ALL the appointments were released online at the same time as the phones opened at 8.15am so as to give everyone an equal chance of getting an appointment, but now they no longer release the appointments online properly and often not at all. I use the online service and I often find myself waiting, refreshing the page for on the day appointments to appear (which they often no longer do), whilst in the mean time they are being given away to those who queue on the phone on the 0845 number (premium rate to many providers eg Talk Talk).
- From my experience the Online EMIS system often doesn't work and when it doesn't it directs you to a back up service from which you're supposed to be able to book apppointments but which is now no more than a blank page with a header!
- The most popular doctors are booking up the appointments I understand they're supposed to save specifically for release on the day, in surgery instead now for repeat patient visits, so getting an appointment with a doctor of your choice, especially on the day, can be near impossible as the number of appointments available at short notice seems to have reduced compared to when the new on the day service was introduced. See my comment above about some doctors non urgent appointments being booked up a month in advance.
- The online repeat prescription service no longer works due to an "upgraded" computer service
- I believe the triage system can be dangerous without a face to face consultation. A member of my family rang up for triage and when rung back was told by the doctor they were already overbooked that day and the best they could do was offer an appointment the following day. Later that day the same member of my family had to be taken to causalty and was admitted as an emergency with a potentially dangerous condition and spent nearly a week in hospital.
- I have found some of the trainee of doctors hold surgery on their own and often you're passed off to these instead of the doctor of your choice
- I get the impression that one of the receptionists they have is not very good, to the point where I feel it necessary to put to the phone down and ring another day if they are answering the phone as I I feel I'm not going to get an appropriate appointment or answer to suit me without some haggling, which is something you can do without when you're ill.
"Difficulty in getting an appointment at my surgery"
About: Sheffield PCT Sheffield PCT Sheffield S9 4EU
Posted by Greenhill Patient (as ),
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