Meon Health Practice
Yew Tree Drive, Whiteley, Fareham, PO15 7LBContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Unsatisfactory & Inadequate Service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Deborah Weatherell - Posted on 04 April 2023
Having only moved to Whiteley 11 months ago, I registered with Whiteley Surgery. I was fortunate enough not to need to contact them until March for an urgent appointment. Despite my call at 8am, they failed to deliver this. When I tried to call to understand why I hadnt been allocated a telephone appointment, my call was cut off after being told by an automated voice message that they had reached capacity for the day. I therefore drove to the surgery, I was advised someone would call me today. They failed. I therefore had to sit in a walk-in centre for 4 hours only to be told they couldnt prescribe that I need. Finally I received a call from a Dr and they arranged for a prescription to be collected at Boots. This week I telephoned on a less urgent matter and asked for a future appointment. I was told as easter was approaching they could not give me an appointment even in the future. To me this is inadequate and highly unsatisfactory service. Whilst I appreciate the surgery may be over subscribed, they are still taking on new patients, but have a shocking service level. My old surgery in Totton was always able to see me same day, even during COVID! I will report this to NHS England as their inability to offer a satisfactory service is impacting on walk-in centres and hospitals.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Deborah Weatherell, Firstly, please accept our apologies for our delay in replying to you. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback. Having checked your records, we can see that you contacted us on the morning of March 15th to request an appointment. Your details were taken and entered into your records at 08.13, to which our Triage GP reviewed your presentations at 08.36, and you were text by our team at 08.39, all within thirty minutes of your contact, to confirm we booked an appointment for you. After three failed telephone encounters to you by our healthcare professional, a text was sent at 13.58 on March 15th, to advise you the telephone appointment would be rebooked and attempted again the next day, March 16th at 09.40. This rebooked appointment took place as planned at 09.40 the next day, and a prescription was issued with text confirmation by Dr Howden at 11.33 on the morning of March 16th. We also see from your records you attended the Urgent Treatment Centre at 13.55 on 15th March for the same symptoms you presented to us before the multiple incomplete telephone consultations and rebooked appointment that was completed the following day. Given this context, and the swift and proactive approach we took to your concerns, we are disappointed to read your opinion is that we offer an ‘unsatisfactory and inadequate service’ and our inability to deliver satisfactory service is impacting walk-in centres and hospitals. At no point did we defer you to a secondary health provider, and we have acted in the best interests to you as our patient swiftly and appropriately. Regarding concerns of access for future appointments and our offering of a same day service, we are working very hard to offer as many appointments as we can, but we, like all GP surgeries, do not have the capacity to see everyone. We operate a same day GP Triage and, depending on clinical staffing on the day, we offer as many ‘routine’ appointments as possible each day before we reach capacity. With a same day service, although you may need to contact us on consecutive days before getting a ‘routine’ appointment, this is typically sooner and safer than asking patients to wait up to six weeks for ‘routine’ appointments. It is also important to highlight our clinical staff often work beyond the recommended levels, and we have to consider their health and well-being, as well as our patients. Regarding concerns of the Practice being oversubscribed, unfortunately, we do not control the local authorities development to our catchment areas, and we would not defer the treatment to any patient who we are contractually obligated to care for, but we understand the frustrations you have with the system. We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Very poor service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 07 March 2023
I went to the surgery today as I tried to get through on the phone yesterday and listening to the recording it clearly said if it was not urgent sfor today to go to the surgery to complete a triage form. This is what I done and was there around 9.30. I explained could I complete a form as I have had bleeding from my rectum and pain for over four weeks. Was told that I could not complete a form and try again tomorrow. How very poor is that when all the adverts say to report bleeding. I burst into tears and left. I even pleaded could I complete a form to get into the system but no.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Patient, Firstly, please accept our utmost apologies for our delays in responding to your feedback. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback with us. As you have entered your feedback anonymously, we are not able to directly investigate or reply in detail to your difficulties contacting the surgery for your rectal bleeding, but we of course apologise for the ‘very poor service’ you have referred to as this is not the level of service we wish for you or any of our patients. Our telephone system does play pre-recorded messages to advise patients of our appointment offering each day, and this is updated daily depending on the clinical staffing we have each day. We apologise if there has been any miscommunication around the process of how to request an appointment at the time of your contact, but we do not advise patients who do not need to be seen urgently on the day to attend the surgery to complete a triage form. We are also deeply sorry to see that your contact to us led to you leaving the surgery in tears as this is not how we expect our patients to feel after their contacts to us. Depending on the clinical capacity on the day, our reception team are asked and trained to ascertain the clinical urgency or presentation of a patients symptoms which are then ultimately decided if the symptoms presented are ‘urgent’ by our GP Led Triage Team. We would trust that this full process was followed but apologise if this was not the case in your contact to us, or if the message was delivered in a way that left you feeling the way you did. Should you wish for these concerns to be discussed further, we would ask you contact us directly so we can investigate your specific experience. You can do this in the following ways: 1. Completing a complaints form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a member of the Management Team We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Swift service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Very satisfied patient - Posted on 03 November 2022
I have had an irritation on my scalp for over a week which was getting worse. I knew it didn't need a doctor's appointment, but a prescription for some lotion to calm the itch. Checking the NHS website it advised I could buy this over the counter, but on going to the pharmacy this isn't the case . I then phoned to find I was No.28 in the queue. Instead I went into Whiteley reception where a lovely, helpful receptionist gave me a form to fill in with my symptoms. That was at 10.15am today. By 12.45 I had a text from my GP (I had opted for that method of contact on the form) to say that a prescription had been sent to the pharmacy. Brilliant service! I know that my complaint wasn't urgent or serious in any way, but I felt valued and cared for in what is an extremely busy practice on another busy day. I applaud the staff and clinicians who endeavour to serve their patients under very trying circumstances day to day.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Patient, Thank you for taking your time to share this five-star feedback with us and apologies in our delay responding to your kind words. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you again for taking your time to share this feedback with us. It’s so nice to read our staff and clinicians offered you such swift service in treatment and care for your irritated scalp and we are so happy we can share your words of support and acknowledgement with our team. We know that access via our telephone services can be frustrating and we continue to work on improvements for these to improve our patients experiences. We are delighted to read the receptionist at Whitely was lovely and helpful, and your clinical contact was resolved within a few hours from the start to end of this care plan with us. Our staff are all working extremely hard in the very trying circumstances you refer to and we are truly grateful of this feedback you have shared as the recognition from our patients means so much to us all. Thank you again for your time in writing this review and we believe we will continue to deliver you and our other patients this level of experience in future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Rubbish Service- wont even answer the phone
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 30 November 2022
I am 73 and have a very bad chesty cough. On the web site it states I must contact the surgery. When I ring I am told there are too many calls and I cannot be dealt with. I am told to ring back. No wonder people don't use this service it is absolute rubbish. Sort yourselves out . It is supposed to be part of the Health Service!!!
Visited November 2022
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 28 December 2023
Dear Patient, Firstly, please accept our sincere apologies for our delay in replying to you. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback with us. As you have entered this feedback anonymously, we are not able to investigate or reply in accurate detail to your difficulties contacting the surgery for your chesty cough, but we of course apologise for the ‘rubbish service’ you have referred to in this feedback as this is not the service we wish for you or any of our patients to have. Our telephone system does have an automated response when our telephone queues are at full capacity which advised callers to call back which is why you would have heard this message at the time of your contact. The reasons for these capacity restrictions are due to technical concerns that were identified by our telephone engineers when callers were being terminated while in the telephone queue or speaking to our reception team. We understand how frustrating it is when you are unable to contact the surgery when you feel that you need to and would ask you try to be patient and understanding of our staff who are working extremely hard to respond to you and all of our callers every day. For some context to the telephone systems that you refer to and the improvements we have made to these since your contact in November 2022, last month (November 2023) our team responded to over 9,000 calls with the longest average wait of 16 minutes and average queue position of 11 during peak hours which is a significant improvement on our figures towards the end of last year (your time of writing in November 2022), but our phone lines are of course busiest first thing at 8am. We continue to focus on our telephone service and patient access to maintain the improvements we have made with planned introduction of a new website and digital access in line with this. Should you wish for these concerns to be discussed further, we would ask you contact us directly so we can investigate your specific experience. You can do this in the following ways: 1. Completing a complaints form, available to collect from reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from a member of the Management Team We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager
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Review titled Useless
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 14 October 2022
The only way to book a GP appointment is by telephone. And they only accept on the day bookings of which they have very few slots available. After they’re finished, you can only book emergencies. I’ve tried booking a normal GP appointment throughout a couple of weeks for my daughter. Nothing urgent, but couldn’t book one. You either spend hours on the phone to find out there are only emergency bookings left or the robot just tells you to call later because the phone lines are too busy. There is no way to book in advance. I’m guessing this is the way they make the numbers look good. They should start taking bookings in advance so the NHS has a figure of how unsuited this surgery is for the number of patients it has under supervision.
Visited October 2022
Review titled Meon Health Practice
Replied on 22 September 2023
Dear Patient, Firstly, please accept our apologies for our delay in replying. We have been experiencing technical issues with our NHS Profile Manager, which are now resolved, and we thank you for taking your time to share this feedback. As you have entered this anonymously, we are not able to investigate or reply in detail regarding difficulties of access to care for your daughter, but we of course apologise for this experience as this is not the service we want for any of our patients. Should you wish to discuss this further, please contact us so we can investigate. You can do this in the following ways: 1. Completing a complaints form, available at reception 2. Completing a feedback form on the website: https://www.thehighlandspractice.co.uk/feedback-and-complaints/ 3. By letter to Complaints Team c/o 102 Highlands, Fareham, PO15 6JF 4. By requesting a telephone call from the Complaints Team Regarding concerns of access and our same day service, we are working very hard to offer as many appointments as we can, but we, like all GP surgeries, do not have the clinical capacity to see everyone. We operate a same day GP Triage service and, depending on clinical staffing on the day, will offer as many ‘routine’ appointments as possible each day before we reach capacity. With a same day service, although you may need to contact us on consecutive days before getting a ‘routine’ appointment, this is typically a sooner and safer pathway than asking patients to wait up to six weeks for ‘routine’ appointments. It is also important to highlight our clinical staff are working beyond the recommended levels, and we have to consider their health and well-being, as well as our patients. To support our patients and our staff, the Management Team review our availability daily, and monitor this through the day, to ensure we can allocate urgent, same day appointments to those who do need us the most. Regarding concerns of difficulty contacting the Practice, our telephone services have been one of our top priorities and we share our improved service information in our newsletters. You can sign up to our Patient Newsletter where we keep patients updated with information about our services and news from the NHS on our website. Last month (August) our team responded to over 9,500 calls with the longest average wait time of 5 minutes and an average queue position of 5 during peak hours which is a significant improvement on our figures towards the end of 2022, but our phone lines are busiest at 8am and we do our best to respond to calls as quickly as possible. We also play our access status to all callers if we have 'routine' appointments or if our 'routine' appointment book is 'full' to avoid frustrations of any call length ultimately ending in advice that we are not able to offer the caller a routine appointment. We trust this information is helpful and believe we will deliver you an improved service in the future. Kind regards, James Leach Patient Service Manager