Cross Hills Group Practice

Written by a patient

First class service on a Monday morning ! To get an appointment for 10- 10 am on the same day is excellent !

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Written by a patient

I am extremely happy with care received from the medical team at Crosshills. I am currently being seen by Dr Smith and very satisfied with her care & advice. My bone of contention is that simply obtaining an appointment is a stressful process, those with anxiety/depression etc., must suffer more when trying to ask for help. I first noticed a need to seek medical help in March 2015 but delayed a visit purely because the appointment system is so painful. I finally made one in July after 9 phone calls and 1 popping in to the surgery. Since then I have been asked to make further appointments, by the GP (Dr Senior & subsequently Dr Smith) and had similar difficulties. At an appointment with Dr Smith on 8 Oct, she advised I return week commencing 23 Nov. She tried to book me in but the calendar wasn't that far ahead, so asked that I call to arrange one later. Reading my look of dejection she advised I speak with Sharon, should I experience difficulty when I try booking. I rang this morning and eventually spoke with Gemma. I explained my need for appointment was at Dr Smith's request and any day week commencing 23 Nov was OK. She told me Dr Smith was available only 1 day that week, but was on emergency call out so no appts. I asked for the following week and was then advised Dr Smith has no availability for the whole of November but that she would be releasing appts Mon 23 & Thurs 26, on the day, and I should call those mornings to see if I could get in. That leaves me with a very high possibility of not obtaining an appt when I need one. I pointed that out, then asked to speak with Sharon. Gemma said let me just look at your notes, which she promptly read ALOUD (in an open plan reception area), before conceding an appt at 9am Thurs 26 Nov. Whilst I appreciate Gemma was carrying out instructions firmly & politely, your booking system stinks and that's not her fault. She does however, need to read medical notes in her head, not vocalise them...it breaches confidentiality! Aside from my experience. Whilst I was in the waiting room on 8 Oct an extremely distressed lady approached your reception desk and through tears implored 'tell me how the hell I make an appointment here?' I gathered she was caring for someone, gravely ill, yet it was the appt system that had broken her........

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Written by a patient

Getting an appointment is a farce - ring up at 8am (often have to ring several times before lines are free), wait in a telephone queue to speak to someone, tell receptionist what's wrong with you, they then decide whether you need to speak to a doctor, then wait for a doctor to ring you back at some point during the day (hardly ideal if you are at work!), doctor then gives you an appointment time if necessary. Absolute farce! Everytime I manage to get an appointment I have the decency to turn up on time, yet the doctors usually run around an hour late (last appointment ran 75minutes late!). Too much reliance on telephone appointments too, I was seriously ill but could only have telephone appointments - if I could have been seen by a doctor at home they may have realised how bad things were!

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Written by a patient

The only real concern I have is with the telephone booking system, this morning I waited 14 minutes before my call was answered though I was able to get an appointment for today (for my daughter). On the positive side I have had nothing but excellent service from CHGP for 16 years. In particular I would like to thank Dr Emmott, he has helped me through some difficult years.

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Written by a carer

While they do have a lot of parttime GPs which can make it difficult if you want to see the same GP all the time, and it can be difficult sometimes to book appointments ahead, they are pretty good at letting you speak to a GP when you need to, even if they can't always give you a face to face appointment. This suits me as a mum with young children I don't always want to traipse off down with kids in tow to sit in a waiting room full of sick people when something can be dealt with over the phone instead. Might not suit everyone, but it works for me. They also open on an evening which is helpful. Only gripe is I wish they'd spruce the place up a bit - all perfectly nice and looks clean but just needs a bit of a facelift!

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