SHP - Monkspath Surgery

You call.. You're number 39 in the queue.. You wait.. You speak to operator who then puts you through to appointments.. Another 40bin the queue.. Total time holding approx 2 hours.. Frustrating to say the least!

Waited over an hour to get through to a call handler only to be put into another queue. I as number 67 so gave up. Tried to book an asthma and medication review via online form. Was told I would get a phone appointment it never happened. I have finally got an asthma review booked 7 weeks after requesting! I dread to think how people who need to be seen urgently are coping with this service. I have avoided contacting my doctors now as it seems pointless and too complicated.

Last week waited over an hour to try and make an appointment; you wait to speak to a switchboard and then get put through to the care team which takes ages so don’t believe the claims that calls are taking less time. The initial one maybe, but then you have to wait even longer to speak to the ‘care team’ . This was to make an appointment for an asthma review. No appointment available, told I would get a call which never came so called again online today to be told no appointments available till December. No wonder A&E departments are not used properly it’s due to frustration at being unable to see a GP !

Prior to all surgeries merging you would have to wait 10 mins max in the phone queue. Now it is usually 60-90 mins with a switchboard transfer in between (so essentially two queues). 55,000 patients have been bottle necked into one phone system which is quite clearly understaffed. Rather than individual surgeries dealing with their own patients, as was the case before the merger.

SHP are applying a business model more akin to a private profit orientated company than a vital tax funded public service.

Very worrying for the community. Never experienced this in my lifetime.

You can no longer book an appointment,
Since the group was created patient care has dropped, you can never see your GP of choice instead having to speak on the phone only to anyone - often hard if a personal issue and most of the surgeries are closed and no longer seeing patients.

Painful just to speak or see a Doctor. Always told ring at 8:30 to get an appointment , what a poor way to operate a service for ill people

On average, the waiting time to get through to SHP is at least an hour, but more likely closer to 1 1/2 hours. Appalling service!

Very frustrating waiting all that time just to make an appointment, which is a now a telephone call scheduled for next week for my medical review, not satisfactory

Service is terrible blaming Covid for lack of staff, there are temp agencies and a lot of pople out of work - this is no excuse

I accept face to face consults are difficult but I have been called and diagnosed incorrectly by various clinicians without being examined
Phone waiting regularly 1hr +.
Certainly gone far downhill under SHP.
We've been with them nearly 40 yes but considering changing