SHP - Shirley Medical Centre

Telephone lines are full at 8am and its virtually impossible to make an appointment. Unfortunately all the practices under SHP are the same so I cant even move to a different practice. Considering moving out of Solihull due to lack of GP coverage.

No reviews on your medication also felt let down when my husband was suffering from cancer and passed away in September 2020

Holding on the phone for over 40 minutes then to be told no appointments....try again tomorrow, same thing again, full to capacity or in a queue for a ridiculous amount of time, again no appointments! What do you do, you can't even get to see your GP now

So poor neither myself or my husband bother contacting them we would rather just be ill, they do not care at all. From being prescribed the wrong medication to just not being listened too, hospitals have sent referrals back to the gp to do follow ups.... no one bothers and cant get in touch to organise ourselves

It took a month to arrange an overdue blood test and waiting time on the telephone was 50 minutes. I missed several calls from the doctor as I was not advised they where going to call me and no time given when they where calling. Long waiting times on telephones

I have waited for over an hour on the phone to the surgery but I’ve also waited only minutes . I have experienced extremely helpful receptionists who have gone above and beyond but also really rude receptionists who clearly don’t enjoy their job. However- when I do finally get to speak with a DR they are great! Especially those from Monkspath Surgery. Thorough. Professional. Reassuring.
Such a shame that’s it’s such a negative experience actually getting an appointment with them , on the phone or otherwise.

Very long wait on a phoneline and difficult to get an appointment. In most cases I dont bother anymore.

I have to contact the surgery on behalf of my elderly parent and dread having to make contact as it invariably involves a very protracted call of up to an hour holding the line (completely impractical when I am employed).
I admire how the staff have coped, but the 'system' is inadequate and time consuming from my experience.
Staff are very pleasant when you eventually get through, but you need dogged determination and a clear diary - I wouldn't want to do it if I were ill!

Since the formation of SHP, contacting the surgery for appointments/prescription queries has become an ordeal - can't get through to a receptionist, can't book appointments in advance, can't see preferred GP for continuity of care. Once obtaining an appointment the clinical team is great, but really really let down by inefficient and frustrating administrative practices including delayed referrals to secondary care.

Inadequate phone system and now online access for medical enquiries has been unavailable since 26/3/21. More pressure now on phone lines means you can’t actually get in the queue to be the 50th caller. If you are lucky enough to be able to get in the queue, you are on hold for at least 30-45 minutes and that’s just the first queue!

Once in the system, it’s painful. Eg Text message from GP to ring up for routine appointment to discuss results. 25 minutes on phone holding before being told no routine spots available and to ring again at 8:00am the next day or to ring after 2:30 pm to see if the routine appointments are available for 2 weeks time. It would make more sense for GP to send text with appointment time.
In 21st century, this is NOT a 21st century service; it’s gone backwards.