Fakenham Medical Practice
Meditrina House, Trinity Road, Fakenham, Norfolk, NR21 8SYContact details and opening times
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Review titled Not the same as it used to be
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 13 December 2022
Once a patient has managed to actually get a phone or face to face appointment with a GP, triage or nurse then they will be treated with 5* high professional standards. It’s getting the appointment that’s the problem & for this I rate 1*. 99% of the receptionists who answer the phone or operate the reception desk deserve 5* because they treat patients with respect, dignity, patience & kind understanding. 1% could learn a lot from their receptionist colleagues. 1% of reception staff are extremely rude, impatient, snappy, disrespectful & condescending. It is clear that 1% do not want to talk with patients face to face or over the phone nor help them In anyway & for this I rate them 1*. The booking system is extremely frustrating & today drove me to tears because one of the 1* receptionists (there are two I rate at 1*) just would not listen to my plight. I would like a follow up appointment for an ongoing problem that has been causing me so much anxiety for several months & of which the Doctor is aware. No way was I able to book a follow up appointment today, not until the New Year, 3 weeks away she said & I cannot call to book, I have to complete an online form in the New Year. From experience I know the completion of an on line form in the New Year will result in an automated response telling me that the Dr. will look at it two weeks from then ! So, now I have to wait another 3 weeks before an on line form will even be considered, potentially 2 weeks from consideration for the Dr. to review it and then potentially another 2 weeks from review of the form for a face to face or telephone appointment. For this shambolic booking system I rate 1*. Likewise when a patient calls the surgery, the automated voice instruction I rate 1*. The practice might as well edit the recording to say “This is Fakenham Medical Practice & we’d like it if you would consider anything but actually ask for an appointment with one of our doctors. We’d much prefer you to call 111, go to the pharmacy, go to Cromer minor injuries, go to the walk in centre 23 miles away in Norwich, go to a & e, look at the help section on our website, if it’s mental health issues call the helpline or fill in an on line form, the doctor will take two weeks to review it and then if you are lucky will give you an appointment some time after that or call back tomorrow to hear this automated message again” Your doctors know their working days & working hours well in advance & so why can’t patients call in to the surgery or call up on the phone to be greeted by the receptionist & given an available slot there & then ? To be told by a receptionist that they cannot give out appointments, not to bother filling in an on line form this side of Christmas because it won’t go anywhere or be actioned at all but to hang on until after the festive season, fill one in then is a wholly unacceptable. Such a shame you can’t sort out the 1* appointment system to compliment the 5* nurses, doctors & 99% 5* receptionists.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Fakenham Medical Practice
Replied on 16 December 2022
Thank you for taking the time to comment about our practice and the praise that you have for our staff. We acknowledge that there are some problems with our appointment system due to the increased demand we are seeing at present. We will be changing this in the new year and in order to do so we have had to put a stop on patients calling and trying to book ahead for appointments. Our change will hopefully see you get a response to your submitted query that day. I hope that this will allow you to then give us a 5* appointment system too. Sarah Buchan, CEO.