The Beacon Health Group

Written by a patient

Getting through on the phone at the correct time to speak to the correct person is really complicated as are all the options that you have to listen to on the phone. Getting an appointment is really difficult unless you are an absolute emergency which has to be proved to reception beyond all doubt before you can see someone. For a routine appointment the waiting time is ridiculous especially if you want to see a particular doctor. Also there are too many part-time doctors in the practice which makes seeing one particular doctor almost impossible and continuity of care a rarity.

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Written by a patient

A fantastic surgery that takes care of me and my family, never have trouble getting an apointment.

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Written by a patient

I don't like that you don't have the same doctor every time as you have to explain why you're there every time, even to get results. I think this is bad management.

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Written by a carer

I agree with others that this surgery is among the good ones but my issue is some doctors who dont care about patients and the only thing they think is how to save money. They put patients life at risk as they did to my dad. I had an appointment and begged him to arrange a CT Scan. I hope it does not happen to others anymore and doctors think what they would do if same situation occurs to them and how could the life of patient of his/ her family been ruined like mine.

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Written by a patient

The receptionists are lovely but always seem rushed off their feet. The waiting room seems to be packed 9 times out of 10 with no air con and now no water machine. I have a different dr each time and therefore a different experience. Dr Hunt is fantastic, he is present with you and attentive. Dr Greenhalgh didn't make me feel as comfortable and like he was 'present' however I am confident in his capability. Dr McAllister - I waited well over an hour to be seen, without anyone telling me she was running late, no real apology when I get into the room, then to make matters worse she is drinking from a mug which has MILF written on it (this is slang for 'mum I'd like to fuck') highly inappropriate for a gp surgery. During this appointment I came to express my concern over, palpitations and fatigue, she revealed at this point that I should have been given a prescription for iron tablets 3 months earlier but nobody had contacted me. Again no real apology and I had months of unnecessary suffering. Recently I saw Dr Bhima on recommendation of a midwife as a next day appointment as she was concerned about blood results and high bp. When I saw Dr Bhima she ridiculed the midwife for not double checking bp and was then very flippant about my symptoms and played down low reading from blood test, I still do not really know what the results were. I'm sure her plan was to make me relax about everything but it came off that everyone else was over reacting, so as she was very fast and flippant in her communication style, I was reluctant to ask further questions and I did also want a breast check as my breasts were lumpy but didn't feel comfortable enough to ask. The last appointment I had was with a stand in midwife on 19th may. She was running 40 minutes late, no apology. Is somebody able to manage the patients expectations before they sit down to wait? I very often have my toddler with me so it would help me plan on keeping him busy. Some other surgeries do tell you how many people there are in front using the computer system. I find the appointment booking a bit confusing. I wanted to book an appointment with dr hunt ahead of time but was told I couldn't, I would have to book an on the day or next day appointment only. Then there are signs up everywhere saying on the day are for emergencies only and routine should've booked ahead of time? I look forward to the move to the new surgery.

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