SHP - Shirley Medical Centre

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.

Since the surgeries have become part of the partnership (SHP) I have experienced ridiculous wait times on hold to get through to the surgery on the telephone and if there are more than 50 in already in "the queue" you are now simply unable to hold and have to try later! Early in the pandemic it was worse (I once waited almost 2 hours) the latest this week (March 2021) it was only a 49 minute wait after 3 tries!

The online system is difficult to navigate and unpredictable, meaning telephoning is sometimes the only choice (no online contact available at all this week, hence having to call). Goodness knows how the elderly get on!

Usually, once actually in contact, the surgery staff and doctors have been great but after having a telephone consultation in early December (9th) with the doctor concluding I needed an urgent referral, then discovering on chasing up that the referral wasn't even processed until 31st December I can no longer trust this surgery. That is NOT an urgent referral by anyone's standards!

Shirley Medical Centre, before SHP took over was phenomenal. I felt so lucky to have such an amazing GP surgery. Communication was excellent, the range of services was vast including minor surgery that prevented a lengthy wait to be seen in hospital. I couldn’t praise the medical and non medical team enough.

But since they became a part of SHP it’s been a totally different experience. Even making allowances for COVID the elongated telephone system, lack of online communication and confusion around which surgeries are available for what has meant I have a total lack of confidence in the way the service is being delivered. On the rare occasion I have been allowed to speak to a doctor then their response has been excellent.

I had a text saying I had to book my covid vaccination at a certain practice, I had moved house not long before this and was not living near this practice so ignored the text until I could update my address and book in. A few days after the text I got a call from SHP asking why I have not booked my vaccine. I explained I’d moved and the woman I spoke to was so rude on the phone her tone of voice when she was speaking to me was like she was spitting her words at me. She also tried to lie and say I HAD to have the vaccine and when I called her out on it and asked if it was mandatory she firstly ignored me and changed the subject and then when I asked a second time she stammered and said well no you do have a choice. We left it as I was supposed to call the surgery back to change my address and book my vaccine. When I called back it took me 40 minutes to get through to which I was then told that no they can’t change my address over the phone and I have to email someone to do it with proof of address, and that they also couldn’t book vaccines over the phone and I had to phone the Covid vaccine hotline or go online. So whoever first phoned me had given me all the wrong information alongside being rude and speaking to me like I was something on the bottom of her shoe. I attempted to book my vaccine through the online portal I was signposted to but this was only for mass vaccination centres and not local surgeries so I tried to call them and after being on hold and getting hung up on I eventually had to go into SHP who booked me into the original doctors surgery they had sent me a text for (as apparently they couldn’t book it anywhere else) so what I had been told over the phone about them not being able to book Covid vaccines was again a lie.

Made an appointment online and was seen within 48hrs for a non urgent issue. Dr Patel is a great doctor who does the best for patients.....

You can spend hours on the phone just to speak to the receptionist. You never ever speak to the same doctor twice, the care is really impersonal and it's impossible to see a doctor in person. I dread the day my child is ever ill. I moved over from GPS as their receptionists are awful and service was going downhill over the years, but at least you could book online and had regular doctors with GPS. SHP have taken the crown for bad service, although when you do finally speak to a receptionist they are very pleasant in my experience. I just can't understand why after a year dealing with the pandemic they haven't put better procedures in place to ensure they are carrying out their duty of care to patients and actually seeing patients.

My aunt aged 93 has been overlooked for a vaccine - I called the practice, couldnt get through so emailed them, in December and again in January. Rude woman called me and told me off for taking up their time, said they had had 2000 calls in one day. I believe my aunt was overlooked, subsequently caught Covid and although she is out of quarantine she is still very poorly. Scant care from the GP.

Long telephone que, despite what SHP have reported. Called to be told I couldnt request an appointment at all for an ongoing issue. Call handlers summarise call for triage GP to review to see if you will be offered an appointment, but they are rushed and don't record all your symptoms. Online consult request used twice has taken more than 3 days to process and then an appointment allocated over even longer. Blossomfield Surgery shut. SHP has a monopoly on healthcare in Solihull and Shirley - why have they been allowed to take over so many surgeries, leaving residents with little choice from this under performing service?

Many revisits for errors on prescriptions, appointment booking errors, arbitrary removal of essential medicine from repeat prescriptions without communication.

Before the merge the practice was brilliant. I called on Friday 13th ( no appointments available, told by a GP I do not know, through the receptionist to call 111/ take myself up to hospital. I called 111 who told me they have so many appointments at the GP practice that 111 can book. They told me I would get a call off my practise which is Jacey within 12 hours. I waited until 6.30 and no one called. So now it’s the weekend, I’ve been struggling & my husband called 111 to say what a disgrace that I was not called by the surgery, they said they had sent it across to the surgery so didn’t understand why they had not called me. Katie Road Walk In ended up talking to me about what additional medication I can take for the pain etc this morning & told me to call my own GP next week ( due to them not being able to see my notes ) - my thoughts are, what is the point? Because I cannot even speak to a doctor from my surgery!