SHP - Haslucks Green Medical Centre

The staff are incredible, all the way from the receptionists , nurse to the gp's and will go out of their way to give you the best treatment. However waiting for nearly and hour to get through for even the smallest query can be incredibly frustrating, especially when your call is answered by the wrong department and you get sent through the queue again. Eg being 7th in line then back to the line at caller number 38 which is very tricky when you also work in health care and cannot spend that amount of time waiting .No information for patients who are not familiar with technology on how to access their Gp etc

Before all the surgeries merged together I never had issues getting an appointment and I think the longest I waited on the phone in the queue was 10/15 mins max! I always managed to get an appointment with my preferred GP. I have extensive medical issues and having a regular GP who knows me and I feel comfortable with is something I really need. Now it’s all under SHP it’s awful. I regularly wait 2+ hours in a queue just to get to the switchboard and then back in a queue for appointments. I’m told I don’t get to choose my doctor anymore just whoever is available. This has led to being call by a very rude doctor whome I’ve had to complain about as she made me feel like I was wasting her time. I also now have to go well out of my way just to go to a surgery and all my hospital paperwork is being sent to different surgeries and doctors causing havoc.
I really don’t see why you’ve merged 55,000 patients under 1 phone number and expected it to work. It’s a joke. I registered at Haslucks Green for a reason and I want to stay there. I don’t understand why it can’t be reverted back to the way it was

After waiting over 1 on hold, I got an appointment through, then on that day our phone disconnected for whatever reason, they didn’t bother trying to call me back, so I had to call and wait again for another 1 hour, eventually got appointment through and got the treatment I needed. On other instances, my husband who is 45 has gout from when he was 23. It’s under control with medication etc. He has 200 tablets each time I re do a prescription as when he has flair ups they can completely floor him. The prescription I now get is for 28 tablets. These won’t last him long, and it’s a massive expensive and more time either calling or writing letters for repeat prescriptions. I wrote letters explaining this too them, but nothing changes, also they decided to change the MG on his daily tablets that were too strong for him. It’s ridiculous, as now he’s stopped taking them. We are told to look after our health, but to be honest that is easier said than done atm.

I gave birth in June, so have had to call SHP 4 times to make appts for my baby and myself, it can take some time to get through but always under 30 minutes. The staff have been very helpful and the nurses have been great.

Cannot access the Surgery direct anymore, cannot book appointment on line or even email. Having rung the ‘ New Central Number’ and waiting 58 minutes to speak with an operator, I was cut off when being transferred back to Haslucks Switchboard.
Only plus, is that I am still able order prescription on line.

Trying to get an appointment since all of the surgeries in Solihull merged is ridiculous. Sat on the phone for over 2 hours trying to get an appointment. This is a poor excuse of a health service and the process seriously needs reviewing fast!!! Every other service has had to adapt to corona virus. It’s about time the surgeries provided a competent service to the community. This is simply not fit for purpose!!!

I rang the surgery as I was told on my last repeat prescription that I needed a review before I could order more medication. I had to get the phone number from facebook as it has changed following the merge to SHP. I was no 48 in the queue at 9.30am. I filled in the online form following advice from a facebook group. After 4 days I got a text to say I would have a telephone appointment over a week after my initial online form was submitted. My telephone appointment was with a doctor I have never had contact with before. She told me I needed a blood pressure check. I went to book an appointment with the nurse(which she discouraged). This phone call was at the end of a week off from work. I told her I needed an appointment after 4pm due to full time work commitments. (I have previously had smears after work pre SHP and was told at the time by the nurse they do later appointments so people can get there). The doctor told me the nurse only works between 9.30 and the latest appointment is 3.20pm. I work in a school so I cannot get time off during school hours/term time so this was unsuitable. The doctor told me to buy my own blood pressure machine (She told me the brand to buy)(which I will only use once a year) for over £25. I felt I had no choice as I can't wait until after Covid as they only gave me 2 months worth if pills. Nor can I wait until my next school holidays to go to the surgery as I will.run out of medication before then. I was pretty dissatisfied with the level of service and the expectation that I should have to spend over £25 when I could have my blood pressure taken at the surgery. There was no question about my circumstances or affordability about whether I could do this. I was then told to phone back with my result which I am dreading as this could take my whole lunch half hour, longer if I'm number 48 again!

Shocking that you can’t get appointments but even more shocking that you can’t even get a potentially life saving test

Trying to get through on the phone is near impossible. If you do actually get through then the chances of actually getting an appointment are slim to none. The actual doctors and nurses are great when you do rarely get to see them

What an absolute nightmare just to try and get through to a receptionist. Ive had to pay privately for treatment as all services that were provided, aren't anymore (even though I had gone deaf in one ear, lost my balance etc. and couldnt work because of it) Shocking as we pay national insurance for healthcare needs. I worry about ever needing an appointment for my toddler who suffers from chest and ear infections in the winter, yet can't get through to anyone in reasonable time to get any kind of appointment/ treatment. You might be trying to keep staff safe by closing surgeriesbut your not keeping the community safe. We are encouraged to still seek medical advice in these difficult times but this new SHP group is making it impossible to do that. Ive never had any notification or reasoning to why my GP is closed, or any information on how to access medical advice elsewhere in their absence. Again I think its appalling.