Marston Green Surgery

This GP surgery used to be amazing, I have been with them since I was born so 26 years. I was diagnosed with a chronic illness in 2014 and am under numerous specialists at the hospital, the GP surgery are awful at managing my repeat prescriptions, approving essential medical supplies I need and providing appointments when I need to be seen. I have not seen anybody face to face since February 2020 and have had major surgery in July 2021, they still wouldn’t see me with an infected open wound. It was a phone call appointment. I am meant to have bloods done every 6 months, I’ve not had them done since February 2020. The Locum doctors are awful, I made a formal complaint about one who told me that I am ‘too young’ to be taking the medication I’m on and that she didn’t believe I was suffering, despite numerous major surgeries and being under specialists for life long care. Following my complaint she was suspended and had to take further training on my illness and young people living with chronic pain. The only good thing about the GP surgery are the Practice Nurses - [Names]. Everyone else including the receptionists are extremely rude and unhelpful. I called up two weeks ago to speak to someone due to declining mental health, I explained this to a receptionist and she told me ‘there is nothing I can do you will have to try tomorrow and deal with it for today’. That is disgusting treatment to patients, luckily I was not in a crisis but I dread to think how others who may be at the crisis point have been treated. They need to stop focusing on their cosmetic surgery upstairs and focus on their patients who actually need help. Get GPs who aren’t useless, and stop hiring random Locum doctors who are disrespectful.

I was with this practice for seven years and in the fifth year I was treated differently from some other service users which prompted my raising a complaint which was handled in a very dismissive way. At the core of the complaint was the fact that there were many inconsistencies and ultimately unanswered questions. All through the period there was not a single attempt to pick up the phone and have a conversation to attempt a resolution.

My experience here was very poor and the Surgery hated answering the difficult questions. The surgery's representative found it easy to make claims that basically was "gaslighting" me as a service user and when challenged they found it uncomfortable to respond factually and sought ways to deflect from these quickly. When challenged on the inconsistencies contained in their written correspondences they then said "they had nothing further to add".

Ultimately, this pattern brought me to the unavoidable decision of moving to another surgery as I could not entrust my care and that of my family to a practice who was not open and transparent in the course of my dealing with them and above all deemed it unnecessary and beneath them to at the very least have a conversation with a service user they have treated with much contempt.

If you ring at 8.30 getting three is desperate it takes ages and then I feel as though I have to convince the staff to let me get a doctors appointment which is still a phone call ???

Could not book my smear for no reason given. I have the letter but nothing
Also, would not let me see a doctor, I had to have a phone appointment who was terrible and felt like I knew more than they did! They didn't even read my notes

As with all surgeries, the early morning phone call to get an appointment (currently callbacks - unless need to be seen in person) is a bit of a pain, but you have to persevere.