Collingwood Health Group
Hawkeys Lane, North Shields, Tyne And Wear, NE29 0SFContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
Leave a review
Help others by sharing your thoughts and experiences about Collingwood Health Group.
Reviews
-
Review titled Demoralising
by Vanessa - Posted on 07 August 2024
Have attended this practice for over ten years. Staff are lovely. Rang the practice this afternoon and waited patiently for just over an hour. The call went through to reception and began to ring normally so I waited and waited and then call disconnected. I waited for one hour, one minute and nineteen seconds to be disconnected. I don't know how this is acceptable in a supposed civilised society.
Visited August 2024
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 08 August 2024
Dear Vanessa Thank you for taking time to leave a review on NHS reviews. I am sorry to hear of your difficulties with the telephone system. The telephone system is scheduled for replacement which was originally taking place at the end of July, but due to technical difficulties outside of the control of the practice this was postponed. This will now take place on the 27th August 2024. If you would like us to investigate your recent problem with the provider then please do contact us and we can investigate this further. We look forward to hearing from you in due course. Many thanks Regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Great & best practice I've been with.
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Christopher McGrath - Posted on 08 August 2024
I've been registered at or with Collingwood health care either coming up to or just over a year now (since approx Jul/Aug 2023). I like the call back option of which I've had many an instance where I've rang & the call qué & or waiting time has been long & thus I chose the call back option of which kept my position & indeed I was called back. Also in respect of actual appointment requests, more often than not I've been able to get such within a reasonable amount of time, including several occasions calling mid morning & or even mid afternoon & being offered & given an appointment the same day & while I've had times in which I've struggled to get through, such instances have fortunately been few & far between. I find the reception staff to be friendly, courteous & considerate & the medical staff to to be excellent. Ultimately Collingwood health care is the best GP surgery & or group that I've been registered with & while not always perfect for me more often than not they have been. Thank you to all the staff who work for Collingwood health care, I for one much appreciate you're hard work dedication..
Visited July 2024
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 09 August 2024
Dear Mr McGrath Thank you for taking time to leave a review. Thank you also for your very kind comments. I am pleased to hear that our telephone call back system has worked well for you. I am also very pleased to read your kind comments regarding the medical and administrative staff. They all work incredibly hard, undertaking a very difficult job in challenging circumstances. I will be happy to share your feedback to colleagues. Thank you again for taking the time to leave a review. Regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Uncontactable - can't even get the basics right
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 25 June 2024
As a minimum, you should be able to actually telephone a practice and get through. I tried calling the surgery yesterday, all day long it wouldn't even add me to the queue because all queue positions were full. Tried again this morning, same thing. Tried at just after 5pm, I'm at queue position 50 (their telephone queue holds a maximum of 50) which, from bitter experience, I know they won't get to within an hour so will be closed and I won't get through. They are still, after all this time (years?), saying it's their telephone system that is at fault. This doesn't wash because: 1. I don't believe that, if your system can handle 50 people at a time it has plenty of capacity, the problem is that you don't have enough people answering the phone - something I've witnessed when in the surgery. It's usualy one person, which is beyond belief for a large practice. 2. If that really was the problem you should have invested in a new system a very long time ago. I work full-time, I can't spend 2-3 hours on the phone during working hours. My son can't get his next lot of medication until he has an appointment. What is he supposed to do? Go without? Do I have to take a day off work just so I can telephone the surgery? You can't even get the basics right.
Visited June 2024
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 26 June 2024
Dear Anonymous Many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. I am sorry to hear your experience of our service was less than satisfactory. I received your review via the NHS Website on the 25th June 2024. I note that you referred to contacting the practice "yesterday" and therefore presume this was in relation to Monday 24th June 2024. Unfortunately, over the course of this week there has been a fault with our telephone system. This has been reported to the telephone provider who are still currently working on this. I have asked the team to keep me informed. As you are aware the practice has been keen to replace the current telephone system for some time and work has been on-going in relation to this. I am pleased to say that at the beginning of this year the order for a new system was placed. Subsequent cabling at all three of our sites has been completed. The work and time invested in these areas was quite substantial and the majority of the work was undertaken at weekends in order to cause as minimum disruption to the working day as possible. The practice has now completed its welcome meeting and configuration meeting with the new provider, and we are currently awaiting a go live date. As soon as we are aware of this date, we will notify patients accordingly. I am sorry that this project has taken some time and appreciate the support and patience that we have received from our patients. Anonymous reviews often do not provide sufficient information in order for us to investigate individual matters, therefore if you would like us to investigate your case on an individual basis, please contact us direct. Once again, many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Poor service
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Livvy - Posted on 28 April 2024
I suffer from cystitis 3 or 4 times each year and usually take a sample into the practice. Unfortunately, now, I need to speak to a doctor before taking a sample in. As it’s almost impossible to get through on the phone this means I need to go into the surgery to ask for an appointment to speak to a doctor then I need to go into the practice with a sample. I live by myself so can’t ask someone to go in for me. Believe me, I know it’s cystitis. I need to wear incontinence pants to go into the surgery. I find this very embarrassing. If someone is a regular sufferer can nothing be done to make this process easier?
Visited February 2024
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 29 April 2024
Dear Livvy Many thanks for taking the time to leave some feedback. I am sorry to hear your descript of our service as poor. We do appreciate the circumstances you mention are distressing and we would much prefer to look at your individual case and offer solutions. Please do get in touch if you would like us to do this. In general the practice is aware of the difficulties many patients experience in contacting the surgery, this is also an issue for many other practices locally and nationally. We are expecting a new telephony service to be available shortly which we hope will make contacting the surgery quicker and easier. Our Doctors and Nurses want to provide good clinical care and this means managing you the patient as a whole and not just treating symptoms. As this is an ongoing issue for you and one which has many factors and causes we would expect that further evaluation and other treatment measures would be offered. There are several self measures that can also have a positive impact on your symptoms. Please find a link to these below: https://shorturl.at/bjkRY Please do contact us direct if you would like us to look at your individual case. Many thanks regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled It was once a good practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Frederick Philip Daw - Posted on 16 December 2023
A phone appointment system that does not work, waiting 3 weeks for an appointment. All just before christmas and now waiting for hospital follow ups. We must remember it is part of a group of surgery's and does not stand alone. They are all located within less than a mile of each other apart from new york even that is not unreachable. Why can't the phone calls be handled as a group also the opportunity to visit one of the other practices if the patient deems it that much of an urgent case they don't mind which doctor they see? My family doctor retired and he is a big miss.
Visited November 2023
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 20 December 2023
Dear Mr Daw Many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. I am sorry to hear that your recent experience has been less than satisfactory. We understand your frustration in relation to our telephone system. Unfortunately, it does not have the capabilities to be managed as one system across all three sites. However, we have been in discussions lately with new telephone providers and are confident that the telephone system will be replaced early 2024. We do encourage patients to try and see the same GP for the purposes of continuity, however, it is not a problem if a patient would rather be seen at one of our branch surgeries. Our practice is currently offering the maximum number of appointments that we can safely provide our patients. There will always be a limit to the number of appointments that any practice is able to provide for their patients in accordance with available resources of time, rooms and personnel and often demand for our services simply exceeds the available capacity and resources that we have. As I hope you will understand, General Practices across the UK are facing an unprecedented level of demand for their services. This is in part due to an inevitable backlog of routine matters which were deferred during our lockdown periods but is also caused by additional factors such as population growth and changing needs of patients without corresponding growth in central funding or support. If you would like us to investigate any individual concerns, please could you be kind enough to contact us directly. Once again, many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. Regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Refused a doctor's appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 16 October 2023
This morning I was refused a Doctor's appointment. I took a letter from my hospital consultant with me to show reception staff. The consultant requested various issues to be addressed by a GP. The receptionist refused to give me a doctor's appointment. She gave me an appointment for next week to have my blood pressure taken by a nurse. I asked again to get a doctor's appointment and was told that "we'll see after you have your blood pressure taken". It would seem the reception staff think they are better qualified than a consultant.
Visited October 2023
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 17 October 2023
Dear Anonymous Many thanks for taking time to leave a review. I am sorry to hear that your experience of our service has been less than satisfactory. Unfortunately anonymous reviews do not provide us with sufficient information to be able to investigate your concerns and we would therefore be grateful if you could be kind enough to contact us so we can investigate the matter further. Once again, many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Superb support
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by John Liddle - Posted on 17 October 2023
A big shout out for your receptionist. It has taken us four weeks to try to find out how to get a non-Pfizer vaccine for my wife. We have talked to our own practice, the RVI, the 119 service, 18 pharmacies and the Tyne House centre. I’ve even tried contacting Moderna. We have been sent round and round in circles, and given incorrect information at every turn. I rang your surgery as part of a list of 8 given to me by119. When there was no answer, my expectations were low. But - a couple of hours later, I got a call back. Your receptionist was cheerful and thought she knew the answer, but went the extra mile, made the call to check and called me back promptly, having arranged for someone at the hub to call me. Brilliant!!! Great service, really efficient - and I hate to think how much all the previous contacts cost, getting it wrong. You wouldn’t publish their name, I think, but I’ll happily provide it privately if you don’t already know. Thank you
Visited October 2023
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 18 October 2023
Dear Mr Liddle Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. I am delighted to hear that the service you received from reception staff was great. I can confirm I have shared your review with the team. Thank you once again for taking the time to leave a review. Regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Awful. Disgusting service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 22 August 2023
Called 3 times today waiting an hour each time. Ridiculous when working full time and just leaving the desk to make "a quick call". Still unable to reach anyone to ask if a prescription I requested a week ago has been issued. If there was another surgery in the area I would leave this practice.
Visited August 2023
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 29 August 2023
Dear Anonymous Many thanks for taking time to leave a review. I am sorry you encountered difficulties contacting us by telephone. Unfortunately anonymous feedback does not provide us with sufficient information to investigate your concerns fully. I am happy to raise a request with our telephone provider to investigate the matter further but would require dates, times and telephone numbers you were ringing from in order to do so. If you would like us to investigate further please let us know. Once again, thank you for taking time to leave a review. regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Terrible
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Danielle - Posted on 29 August 2023
Terrible practice, can never get through on the phone lines always reached maximum capacity tried to ring from 8.30 today as have an appointment and can’t remember the time. It is now 12.04 and phone lines still not open. This is an ongoing problem and in the past I have had to drive down to the practice in order to speak to a receptionist unfortunately I am at work today and can’t do that. Promises to improve the call waiting system and a year on still the same if not worse. I can’t check my nhs app as I have been kicked off that again for the 4th time.
Visited August 2023
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 31 August 2023
Dear Danielle Many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. I am sorry to hear you encountered difficulties in accessing the practice. We are aware of the limitations of our telephone system and work is on-going in relation to sourcing a new telephone system. I am also sorry to hear you have had difficulties with the NHS app, if you feel our IT lead could assist you with this please let us know - She works everyday except a Thursday. Once again, many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. Regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager
-
Review titled Telephone
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Mr Neil Middlemiss - Posted on 25 August 2023
Tried to phone most of Thursday 24/08/23 kept getting the ring back was not available started to phone today (Friday 25/08/23) still not available to get thru until 12.30 I selected to have a call back time of this review 18.30 and still no call back just cannot understand how it takes more than 6hrs to return a phone call
Visited August 2023
Review titled Collingwood Health Group
Replied on 31 August 2023
Dear Mr Middlemiss Many thanks for taking the time to leave a review. I am sorry you encountered difficulties accessing the practice last week. I have investigated your concerns further and during the time period you mention the practice encountered some significant staffing issues which resulted in the delays you experienced. Please accept our sincere apologies on this which was due to unforeseen circumstances. We have been working incredibly hard to rectify the situation. Once again thank you for taking the time to leave a review. regards Sandra Dowling Practice Manager