SHP - Monkspath Surgery

The surgery has recently shown slight improvements but it is still very difficult to get an appointment. I do not think it's being managed properly. The online system is hard if you are not very conversant, if you are not IT savvy. There are also problems with how long you wait for your appointment when you attend the surgery.

My son has been seen three times recently. He is 18 and have complex additional needs including ASD, OCD and mental health problems. I do not feel like we are getting anywhere in terms of help. The doctors are good but there are limits to what they can provide and where they can refer us to.

My experience as a patient with asthma has been poor. I can never get appointments and I can never get appointments to get prescriptions for inhalers that I cannot be without. I have become so frustrated with the poor service that I have started to pay privately for my inhalers to completely cut out the hassle of constantly chasing them for appointments and prescriptions which is very difficult when you work full time too.

I find the surgery great for the children. I can get them straight in when they need an appointment. However, when trying to book appointments for myself the system is not great. For some reason the online triage system does not work for me and I have raised the problem with the surgery. I have to therefore rely on the phone system and still struggle to get through and can often be 40th in the queue or cannot get into the queue because lines are so busy. I think that the problem is that the system is centralised and there are too many surgeries connected now. I have had a number of problems trying to get medication for a condition I have and I have now been told that I need to obtain a letter from my private service provider outlining the condition and treatment I need before they will issue a prescription for the medication. I am unable to get the medication privately or I would have, but I do have to pay for the letter to be written although they did give me all the details to pass over to the surgery.

They always seem to be running late and I have to wait to be seen.

Accessing appointments here is very difficult. The communication is poor and the care is not consistent either. It really depends who you see. I also sometimes have to travel to other surgeries but I don't mind that.

The are absolutely dreadful. I find it difficult to access appointments and there is a general lack of communication from them. When you can get in some of the doctors are good but others aren't.