Eastfield House Surgery
6 St. Johns Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 7LWContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Not fit for purpose
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Practice not fit for purpose - Posted on 06 November 2023
Tried to make appointment in the morning on the new system on line will not let you login ,so l phoned to talk to somebody after 40 minutes wait I was told you can’t login again till after 1.30pm still wouldn’t let me login so I phoned the practice again waited another 50 minutes asked every question except my shoe size still didn’t get a appointment told bye the receptionist they have to many patients so they said they would get back to me ,so no further forward ,no wonder so many people are going to hospital ,they think this is progress
Visited November 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 09 November 2023
Dear Patient I was sorry to hear that you had difficulty logging into our new Anima triage system, and after a long wait on the phone, you were unable to access an appointment. Our telephone system allows patient's to request a call back so they do not have to wait on the telephone. If you chose to do this, you will maintain your place in the call queue and our receptionist will call you back. With regard to our receptionist asking you a varienty of questions when processing your appointment request, this is to establish the most appropriate appointment and urgency of your particular situation. I note that you were told someone would get back to you. If this has not happened, please do not hesitate to get back in contact with us. I would like to assure you that we take all feedback seriously and I will discuss your comments with our staff. With best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Anima system
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by L Lloyd - Posted on 21 November 2023
Have used the anima system twice and I’m not impressed, I try to book an appointment for my son, I have followed all the instructions to set up my children as dependents but get told that I have submitted the appointment for myself when I get a call back from the doctor. I select my child’s name when doing this but it doesn’t seem to want to book it for my child. Apparently according to the receptionist I’m the only one that this is happening to so they can’t book an appointment. Also when I go onto the system at 7.30 or at 1.30 when they tell you to as it won’t take request’s unless it’s at these times it sometimes still won’t take requests. I get told by the receptionist that the doctor has to switch on the requests so this can happen between any time of 1.30-2.00 so keep checking… but they switch it off when all the appointments are fully booked. So if you miss the slot then I guess that’s your bad luck. So I miss the slot because I have to tend to my children, then I miss it again because I logged in and the doctor hasn’t switched on the system… and I didn’t have time to check it within the next half hour, it’s bonkers. I wanted to complain to the practice manager, but she doesn’t take calls just suggestions that you can submit to the practice. How nice for her to take suggestions while the receptionists take the flack. I am honestly at my wits end. I try not to get annoyed but it’s really difficult.
Visited November 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 05 December 2023
Dear Ms Lloyd Thank you for providing feedback about your experience with our new appointment system, Anima on 27th November. I have spoken to our reception manager about the problems you were having when trying to submit a request for an appointment for your son. She remembers speaking to you on 27th November and was able to offer you an appointment with Dr Featherstone, while she investigated the issues you were having. Our reception manager asked you to provide a screenshot of the problems you were having with Anima so we could investigate this further, and discuss your issue with the technical team at Anima. We are not aware of any other patients experiencing the same problem that you describe. To date we have not received the screenshot from you but would be grateful if you could provide this. I am sorry that I was unable to take your call when you requested to make a complaint to me directly. Our practice policy is to ask patient’s to put their complaints in writing so that it is in their own words and includes the key points that they would like us to address. This allows us to time to investigate all of the issues in full. All complaints are taken seriously and discussed in our monthly Governance Meeting to see if there are any learning points for the practice. If you would like to discuss your particular concerns with me further, please contact our Reception Team on 01635 41495. Regards Liz Pope, Practice Manager
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Review titled Anima!!!!
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Lesley Beal - Posted on 19 October 2023
Anima is a total waste of time for me. Feeling quite poorly at the minute. Tried to navigate through the anima system with no luck. I phoned the surgery and the receptionist was very pleasant and stated that I should call back at 1.30pm when she'd be able to request an appointment on my behalf. I called back., speaking to a different receptionist who wasn't pleasant at all. The anima system has had me in tears
Visited October 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 09 November 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for taking time to provide us with feedback about your experience with our new appointment system, Anima. I am sorry to hear that you have had diffiulty using the Anima system, particularly when you were feeling so unwell. We have been working with the Anima development team, to feedback our patient's experience of Anima, and it would be useful for us if you could provide some further detail on the problems that occured. We have received a lot of positive feedback from patients about the Anima system so it is important for us to understand where things are not working well. I am also sorry that you found our receptionist unpleasant when you called. As you know, all calls are recorded and I would be grateful if you could provide me with date, time and telephone number you called from to enable me to investigate this further. I look forward to hearing from you. Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Anima.
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Charles Dixon Hamilton - Posted on 09 October 2023
I feel that I must air my view of Your new appointment system, namely Anima. I tried to use it this morning to get an appointment to see my Doctor for what I believe is the start of a chest infection, which is not a good thing when You are Asthmatic and classed as "vulnerable"! I was advised by Anima to either dial 999 or visit my local A&E, which I don't need to tell You is at Basingstoke, a 12 mile journey. As advised, I tried again at 1300 hrs to be told that no more requests are being accepted and to try again at 0730 tomorrow, probably to be told the same thing while my condition slowly gets worse. Why have You discontinued the simple straightforward method of ringing for an appointment? Life is complicated enough for me now without all this hassle as I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease last year. Anima also advise ringing 111 as an option, I tried this when my last chest infection reared it's ugly head in April and they advised me that I should go to the chemists and get some cough mixture!! On that occasion I was lucky enough to get an appointment with my Doctor at short notice and She prescribed Steroids and antibiotics which alleviated the condition very quickly. This is all I want now but find that I am unable to do that, which is very disappointing.
Visited October 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 13 October 2023
Dear Mr Dixon Hamilton Thank you very much for your recent feedback on our new appointment system, Anima. I am very sorry to hear that you have had trouble booking an appointment using our new triage system. We have had some teething problems in the first few weeks with patients not being able to access the system which we hope we have now rectified. I note that you have subsequently used Anima on 10th October and were provided with a same day appointment with a GP. We have opted to change from our old system to a triage system as we believe this will provide better access to clinical staff, ensuring that patients are offered an appointment with the right person in the most appropriate time, based on clinical need. Please be reassured that we are monitoring progress with our new system on a daily basis and we hope that patients will see the benefits. If you have trouble accessing Anima, we invite you to contact our reception team by phone or come into the surgery in person, and they will be happy to assist you. Regards Liz Pope, Practice Manager
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Review titled Not happy with the GP
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 September 2023
Very disappointed from the care I get from my GP, over the year experiencing the pain In my legs which sounds like circulation, not medication prescribed as she is still not sure what causing my condition. Is there any chance I can request another doctor or another opinion ? As this been going for over a year and I am scared that this condition will get worse. I need a proper treatment.
Visited September 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 10 September 2023
Dear Patient I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the care you are receiving from your GP in relation to ongoing pain in your legs. We would be very happy to transfer your care to another GP in the practice. We ask patients to put their request in writing and aim to process the request within 3 working days. Please visit our website during surgery opening hours, by clicking on the envelope icon on the left hand side or by using the following link: https://www.eastfieldhousesurgery.co.uk/navigator/contact-the-practice/ Alternatively, please contact me at the practice during usual working hours. Kind regards Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Bad service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 August 2023
Very long waiting for non emergency appointments. I been offering appointment in a middle of September. Everything that I can say this is a bad service
Visited July 2023
Eastfield House Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Unable to get appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Dave P - Posted on 25 July 2023
I have a shoulder problem, that I've tried to treat with ice and ibuprofen after talking to a pharmacist. That’s unfortunately not cleared up the issue, to the point that I’m not having trouble sleeping. I call today to get an appointment with somebody to help, and I’m told it’s 6 to 8 weeks for an appointment! What makes it worse, from the looks of it they are still accepting new patients, even when they can’t offer appointments to their existing ones
Visited July 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 26 July 2023
Dear Dave P I am sorry to hear that you have had ongoing shoulder pain and appreciate that you have taken steps to manage your condition with your pharmacist. Routine appointments with a patient’s own GP can vary between 3-6 weeks however, more urgent on the day appointments can be booked with another GP at the practice, where capacity allows. We are constantly reviewing access and capacity for appointments at Eastfield House and this can vary depending on staff sickness and holiday. However, we are planning to implement a new triage appointment system in the Autumn which will allow GPs to prioritise the most urgent appointments at first contact, according to the patient needs. We will be releasing details of the new appointment system in due course. With regard to our practice list size, this has continued to grow with the ongoing housing development in our practice boundary which is not within our control. We have taken measures to install some temporary consulting rooms in our car park to allow us to improve our service by employing more clinical and admin staff, whilst working with a local developer on plans for a new purpose-built surgery. We have spoken to our ICB about the possibility of closing our patient list, but this is only permitted in extreme circumstances and for a limited period. I hope I have been able to address the concerns that you raise. Please contact me at the surgery if you would like to discuss things further. Kind regards Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Too long for an appointment
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 06 July 2023
I waited 6 weeks for an appointment. Since my Doctor retired I rarely see the same Doctor. The receptionists are great and care fine when finally get to see someone. I know the nhs is suffering difficulties but this is unacceptable. I feel for the receptionists who have to tell patients how long they will have to wait. This needs addressing urgently
Visited July 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 24 July 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for providing Eastfield House Surgery with feedback about our appointment availability. I am sorry that you had to wait 6 weeks for a routine appointment with your GP. Routine appointments can very between 3 to 6 weeks, depending on the patients own GP availability, which can be longer at times due to annual leave. However, if a patient needs to be seen on an urgent basis, appointments are available the same day but it may not always be possible for the patient to see their own GP. We are constantly reviewing our appointment system and GP availability. We are hoping to adopt a new appointment system in the Autumn to give patients better access to our services and we will be providing details about the new system in the coming weeks. Thank you for acknowledging the good care our receptionists provide at the surgery. They work very hard to provide the best possible care and service for our patients. With best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Unbelievable
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 13 March 2023
Called reception to ask where disabled parking was and was 3rd in the queue for 15 minutes and still never got my call answered so I hung up.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 16 March 2023
Dear Sir/Madam I am sorry that you experienced a longer than ideal wait on the telephone to ask about disabled parking. We regularly monitor phone calls and I will investigate the issue you have raised. I can confirm that we have two disabled parking spaces in our surgery car park, which is situated at the rear of our building and is accessible via Catherine Road. If you have access to the internet, you can direct queries of this nature via our website by clickly on the message envelope on the left hand side of the screen. Messages are monitored throughout the day. I hope I have been able to address your issue. Kind regards Liz Pope Practice Manager
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Review titled Awful
Rated 1 star out of 5
by SarahW - Posted on 23 February 2023
7 week wait for an appointment with my GP (even telephone appointments). I am not 'allowed' to meet with another doctor as mine insists his patients all see him only - I have never even met him so not sure why this rule exists and all it means is that I can't see another doctor sooner. If phoning for an urgent same day appointment they go within minutes, so even if you start the phone call before the urgent slots are released, by the time to automatic message finishes you then join a queue (for me i was 8th in the queue), when I got to the front of the queue all appointments were gone. I'm then told to visit the website to book an appointment, website is down and I get 'page cannot be found'. Utterly frustrating. Absolutely baffling that this surgery is taking on more patients when they are clearly over subscribed and not enough doctors - or maybe enough doctors but not working efficiently enough. All in all an extremely upsetting experience.
Visited February 2023
Review titled Eastfield House Surgery
Replied on 24 February 2023
Dear Sarah I am sorry that you have had an upsetting and frustrating experience when contacting the practice for a GP appointment. Current wait times, for routine appointments with a patient's own GP, can vary if the own GP has holiday in the period. It is the practice policy that patients see their own GP where possible, as this ensures continuity of care and is a more efficient use of time. However, urgent on the day appointments are available with any GP when own GP is not available. In addition, our Paramedics offer on the day appointments for acute and minor illness. Unfortunately, the demand for these appointments can be higher than we can safely provide. We are constantly monitoring our appointment availability and provide GP locum cover for holiday, sickness and during busier times of the year. The demand for our service has increased in the last few years due to the number of housing developments being built in our catchment area. We monitor closely our patient numbers and GP allocations to make sure we can sustain a safe level of care to our patients. We are unable to refuse to register a patient living within our practice boundary and with this in mind, we are having regular conversations about our premises constraints with our Integrated Care Board who report directly to NHS England. We have made modifications to our practice to allow for extra consulting rooms and admin space. In addition, land has been identified for us to build a new practice on the southern side of our practice boundary, subject to NHS England approval. Once approval has been granted it will take a further two years for a new surgery to be built. In February 2022 we made an application to our ICB for two temporary clinical cabins to be installed in our car park to enable our clinicians to offer more face to face appointments. Unfortunately, despite much input from our GP partners, we are still waiting for approval. I am sorry that you experienced problems with our website and online booking service. We are not aware of any other reported incidents and the systems are working well today. I hope my response has addressed the issues you have raised and explained the steps we are taking to monitor and improve our service. I would be grateful if you would contact me directly at the practice so we can make sure your medical needs are dealt with. I look forward to hearing from you. With best wishes Liz Pope Practice Manager