Reviews
This surgery has sent me a text once a year for the past 6 years saying they have reviewed my medication and decided that I should carry on as prescribed. This concerns me greatly as they have no idea if my situation has changed in anyway. If I ever ring for an appointment the receptionist does her best to ensure that you have to wait approx 10 days. For the past 4 months they have only filled half of my prescription even though it was ordered on line. This leads to problems with the pharmacy as they say they haven't received a prescription for the missing items, they even show me what the surgery sent through. However the receptionist at the surgery gets all snotty and insists that it has been sent to the pharmacy, the rest of the prescription turns up usually within 2/3 days later! I am sick to the back teeth with this surgery but am stuck due to ill health and I don't drive!
Constantly cut me off from treatment without telling me this is going to happen, and ignore letters from my consultants on treatment I need. Pharmacists give out incorrect information, and the lack of communication from Drs and surgery in general is constant. Hit and miss as to whether you get a Dr that will treat you with any dignity or respect, one of my consultants refused to take notice of a letter from one of the GP’s because it was apparently disrespectful and insulting towards me as a patient.
Glenfield missed my dad's cancer because they failed to do routine checks twice. He presented as a 78 year old man with pain in his hip and thigh, having had no prior health check for a number of years. They did not do any blood test, or a PSA check, which I believe should have been routine, and certainly would have indicated that he had cancer. He was instead sent to a physiotherapist and given pain-killers twice.
6 months later, he decided to go private. He was diagnosed after his first appointment, with prostate cancer that had spread to his hip and thigh, and died 14 months later. At the time of diagnosis, he did write to Glenfield to ask how it had been missed but there was no response. He also spoke to the GP on the phone to ask about his prognosis but she was quite rude to him and made him feel very upset for several days after the phone call. The impression we had was that she had been told not to say anything that might make the practice look bad for missing the cancer, and we suspect that for this reason, she came across defensive and uncaring.
I would never, ever recommend Glenfield.
I've had a couple of unbelievable incidents at Glenfield and a whole load more bad, yet believable incidents. Two doctors who gave factually incorrect (and life changing) information stand out. They got my blood test mixed up with another patient's and diagnosed me with Hepatitis B!
In fact, I was told that I had chronic (not acute) Hepatitis B, when even if the blood test was correct, they could not have known if I was chronic (more deadly) or acute without specialist tests. Not only was the blood result somebody else''s, but the doctor had wrongly based his understanding on the fact that I told him I'd been feeling under the weather for a few months. I was left utterly devastated for several days before some retests came back and confirmed that I did not have Hepatitis B and that they had made a mistake. There was no apology from senior management, only a young GP over the phone, and no one corrected the gross misunderstanding that he had about acute versus chronic Hepatitis B.
Recently I was advised to have an HIV test because I work in Africa. I told the doctor that I did not need a test but he went on to say I should because I could have contracted it from mosquitoes! I was puzzled but didn't want to argue with a doctor. He then explained that mosquitoes collect blood from one person and inject HIV infected blood into another. I was flabagasted. HIV can NEVER be contracted by mosquitoes. Even an average school child knows this. I wrote a letter of complaint about this to the practice manager and never received a response.
Could my experiences at Glenfield be more appalling?
I've left the surgery but my parents continue to be there ("better the devil you know", they say) Recently we have turned up to collect prescriptions at the time they told us to,, and on 3 occasions it has not been there. Twice, we were told to wait and then 15 minutes later were sent home and had to return later - a 45 minute wasted trip on two occasions. An elderly or sick person without transport couldn't have dealt with that. Yesterday we called 5 times because we had been told by a nurse that the prescription was at reception (due to past experience we didn't just drive there, we called to check). They told us categorically each time that they didn't have it. 3 hours later, they discovered they'd misplaced it, no apology.
For your own safety, I would not recommend Glenfield, both for their poor choice of doctors (these events happened about 5 years ago and 2 years ago), lack or organisation and very poor customer service approach.
Glenfield surgery needs to finally give up the approach of making it as difficult as possible to obtain an appointment. Everytime I need to see a doctor there is a new system in place, at one time you might be able to get an appointment on the day, then there was a bizarre queuing outside system, a bit like a night club (Dickensian!). Then they decided the receptionist would decide who you could see a doctor or a nurse ! Now you are not allowed to talk to anyone on the phone it all has to be by computer with as few words as possible! I cannot imagine what it is like for some elderly person weakened by illness/frail to find they cannot get an appointment unless they are proficient with a keyboard! There is meant to be a patient group at the surgery surely they cannot condone this constant madness. Come on Doctors, why did you elect for these jobs if you want to avoid ill people, oh wait was it the money and status!
Resources
Short link to review Glenfield Surgery: http://iwgc.net/ecavv