Ruby Country Medical Group
Holsworthy Medical Centre, Dobles Lane, Holsworthy, Devon, EX22 6GHContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled Appalling service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 March 2024
After being at the surgery for around ten years I can say with the most certainty and confidence, this surgery have progressively got worse. From the in service from reception to the incompetence from the gps. Apart from my own discrepancies with the surgery, such as repeated failed information or just impossible to get an appointment with my gp.. I recently chased up a referral for a family member to find out it was never submitted in 2021. My relative has been in pain for that period of time . 3 years . I have a lot of respect for the NHS and feel privileged to live in a country that has it. Unfortunately the past few year have led me to want to go private.
Visited February 2024
Review titled Ruby Country Medical Group
Replied on 21 March 2024
Thank you for taking the time to share your patient experience whilst using the medical centre over that last ten years. We are really concerned to hear that we have fallen short in terms of healthcare services to yourself and your family. All such comments are taken very seriously and have been passed to the Management Team accordingly. The demands on Primary Care in the last few years have given practices huge challenges in terms of staff capacity and healthcare service provision. Whilst we seek constantly to meet these challenges head-on, with consideration of all patients’ needs and maintaining the highest standards of healthcare to our patient communities, it is very disappointing to hear that errors have been made, such as the one you describe, and that our service did not meet the required standard. We are always listening to patient feedback, in order to improve appointment bookings, access to services, clinical admin processes, medication review and supply, and referral systems and have implemented changes already this year. We encourage our patients to let us know when we have succeeded and also when we have failed, so we can learn from them and improve. Please feel free to speak to one of the Management Team further about your concerns, if you wish. We want to get things right for you and all our patients.
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Review titled Excellent service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 10 May 2023
Excellent receptionist, took my details, patiently and kindly listened to my issue, reassured that a nurse would contact me. Compassionate nurse rang me , very knowledgeable, brilliant listening skills and tactful.
Visited May 2023
Review titled Ruby Country Medical Group
Replied on 11 May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience as a patient at the practice. We are delighted to have been able to help you. Letting other people know the service you have received is really important to both our patients and our staff teams. We have shared your post with wider team and it has given us all a real boost. Thank you!
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Review titled Poor response from the Medical Centre
by Kernowbird - Posted on 19 December 2022
During an ongoing issue I have encountered difficulty in speaking with my GP at Holsworthy Medical Centre. A Nurse Practitioner returned my call days later to offer repeat prescription. I explained I needed investigation not more pain killers. As the delay in my GP getting back to me I took the option of seeking a private consultation with a specialist. I had booked a telephone consultation with my GP but the day before the medical centre cancelled this appointment. I could not make contact with the medical centre as the surgery was closed for the afternoon for staff training. After several requests for a referral to the Nuffield, a specialist was secured. However, on my consultation the clinician did not receive any medical background to my issue other than the request for a private consultation. Not a great experience to be fair as I didn't want to go private but need a swift solution as being in pain 24/7 is not acceptable and hence I have taken the private route not only for my physical health but my mental well being.
Visited December 2022
Provided by Care opinion
Review titled Ruby Country Medical Group
Replied on 21 December 2022
Thank you for taking the time to share your patient experience. We are sorry to hear it has been a frustrating and unsatisfactory one for you. There have been considerable pressures on our practices over the last years, becoming more pronounced in the winter months. occasionally GP appointment lists are affected, and patients offered an alternative member of staff to talk to, if their GP becomes unavailable. If appointments have to be cancelled we make every effort to contact patients by phone or text message, so that they are aware what has happened. We sincerely apologise if you were not contacted. We are sorry to hear you were further frustrated by our Training afternoon on 22nd November. Although Training afternoons were paused during the pandemic (there were usually 4 per year), it is prudent now to resume these so staff can be made aware of current local and national ways of working for best practice and service resilience. This was our only training afternoon for 2022, with messaging given across all communication platforms many weeks in advance and a full Out Of Hours service in place to cover urgent medical need. In regard to information sharing with private healthcare providers, a request for medical information has to come from the private consulting specialist. With patient consent, these are acted on quickly and efficiently by our secretarial team for good continuity of care. Full medical records are also available to every patient via NHSApp. If the Nuffield Hospital do require further information to help your treatment, please ask them to contact us. We are sorry you have felt let-down by our practice on this occasion and hope we are able to do better next time you need us. Please feel free to contact our Management Team, if you wish to discuss any of the matters raised in your comments, especially if you are still experiencing on-going chronic pain. We’d like to be able to put things right.
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Review titled cannot get appointments
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Egan Pendlebury - Posted on 14 November 2022
My first point is I am happy with my existing doctor. With that said I have tried on multiple occasions to get through to this surgery. Most times I simply give up or the phone mysteriously disconnects. I had my cholesterol taken on Oct 13 this year. Its now Nov 14 and no results. I finally got through to the receptionist today and she said they are fine. I asked for the specific results as my cholesterol was high when last checked. She responded she could not do this but would speak to the doctor for permission to inform me and write with the results. I then asked for a phone appointment with the doctor to get the information directly as it seemed inefficient to have a written response for such simple data. I was told December 19 was the earliest for a phone appointment. I mentioned I had signed the forms to access my own medical records, but the cholesterol results were not on my records. I asked why not; the response was it takes a while! What on earth is happening to this surgery? The Holsworthy website says they are taking on new patients. How is this possible when it's clear the existing patient numbers for this surgery seem to be overwhelming the resources they have. Almost 5 weeks wait for a telephone appointment is by any measure not acceptable. Regards, Egan Pendlebury
Visited November 2022
Review titled Ruby Country Medical Group
Replied on 16 November 2022
Thank you for taking the time to share your patient experience, Mr Pendlebury, albeit a very frustrating one. Giving us this feedback allows us to learn what is happening and try to improve our systems where possible. We are delighted to hear that you are happy with your GP. We are sorry, however, to hear that you have not been able to get the results you wanted, even via online access, and that you are also having to wait for a routine telephone call. Our PSA team are not able to give out clinical data over the phone or F2F, as they are not clinically trained, so will always defer to your GP for permission to give results. They can tell which results have been seen by a GP and if any action is needed. Some patients like to have results printed off and collect them from our reception. If you wish to discuss your results, unless they have been marked for follow-up, a routine telephone call is appropriate. Results are checked by a clinician every day so anything that needs attention is immediately flagged and acted on. Cholesterol results do occasionally take a little longer. We are aware that contacting the medical centre by phone is proving difficult. Our phone lines are fully staffed from 8am until 6pm (apart from lunch time when staffing reduces), and we are encouraging people to contact the practice using online methods whenever possible, for non-urgent queries, to reduce the incoming caller numbers. Unfortunately, since the pandemic we are experiencing a huge increase in calls to the practice, as is the case nationally. Our Management Team are looking at ways to improve things to reduce the frustrations being felt. Your comments will be passed to them for consideration and we apologise that we have let you down this time. Please feel free to come and talk to our Holsworthy Operations Manager, should you wish to address your concerns to her in person. We hope do better next time you need to contact us.