Elm House Surgery
Beckenham Beacon, 379 Croydon Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3FDContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Was a great practice
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Deborah - Posted on 15 May 2024
I been unwell with my asthma for over a year. It started last May when after returning from a trip, I was diagnosed with pneumonia, GP acted very quickly. I had another occasion in January 2024 back from a Christmas break felt ill again with my asthma managed to get an appointment through the new Anima. When I met the Dr she said "not you again" but didnt check records to find out why i was back again. I was quite horrified but too unwell to question her choice of words, her consultation was poor. A week later I was texted saying my yearly asthma check up was due. Brilliant, I made the appointment immediately. At this appointment (an hour) to go through how I have been. I said I had been struggling for a year and without hesitation she starting reading my records. It became apparent t that my steroid dosage had been changed a year earlier, this may have been the reason I've been poorly so many times. I was put back on original dosage now and slowly getting back to normal slowly. Thank goodness for my yearly checkup. I am ending this as I feel Asthma is not being taken seriously at the surgery. Its a chronic life threatening illness and it needs to be thoroughlychecked out at appointments. I am happy to come in and discuss my worries for my own health. At tge asthma check up it was suggested I see a GP urgently, which I did as receptionist to help with. She just said she couldn't make an appointment, as it had to be done via Anima. I was sent away.
Visited January 2024
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 15 May 2024
Dear Deborah, Thank you for leaving your feedback comments and taking the trouble to write them. I'd like to reassure you that we do take asthma very seriously. I'm so sorry you feel let down by the GP you saw and to learn that your experience was far less than we aim to achieve. Please can you contact me at the surgery by telephone or email to give me more details so that we can discuss what happened and find ways to improve things for you. Kind regards, Geoff Cook, Patient Liaison Officer
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Review titled Booking system
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Fran leighs - Posted on 14 January 2024
Went online at the weekend to try to book an appointment. Was happy to see any Doctor and even wait a few weeks now this it seems this is not possible I have to access system at certain hours and hope I get lucky to even put in request. How is this helpful or progress do I now have to wait weeks even to request an appointment.
Visited January 2024
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 22 January 2024
Dear Patient, thank you for leaving your comments regarding trying to book an appointment over the weekend. I’m sorry that you experienced difficulties with our online system. The reason for you not being able to book an appointment over the weekend is that the surgery isn't open at the weekend which means the Anima online booking system is not available. For urgent medical matters that occur out of normal practice hours or over the weekend you can ring NHS 111, visit the Urgent Treatment Centre or in an emergency go to A&E. We aim to make it possible for Anima to be available from 8am - 4pm, Monday - Friday but for safety-netting reasons, sometimes we close the booking platform. When this happens it means that our doctors have reached the maximum number of appointments that can safely be managed in a day. When capacity has been reached, patients are advised to contact us again the next day when we will try to accommodate extra enquiries. This is the same practice as before we introduced Anima. I hope you find this information helpful but if you are still having problems booking an appointment then please ring us and ask a receptionist to assist you with the technology. With kind regards, Geoff Cook (Patient Liaison Officer).
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Review titled The vulnerability of older people.
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by LGW - Posted on 30 January 2024
I attended the surgery for an appointment this morning. As I was walking through reception an older man, obviously hard of hearing, was trying to explain something to a receptionist. She was trying hard to make herself heard but couldn’t help having to raise her voice, I don’t believe she could have done anything else. But a lot of the man’s personal details were able to be heard by others. Including his name, age, address etc. He was obviously frail. I’m concerned that someone unscrupulous may take advantage of this kind of information, because the same thing happens every day. With this new anima system, the way it operates, I believe it’s leaving people susceptible. There seems to be no discretion at all. I think provisions should be made so that people can speak confidentially, rather than at a desk in the middle of all the other activity. Older people are not being looked after, this new system leaves them worried and anxious about what the changes are to the routine they have been used to for years.
Visited January 2024
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 04 April 2024
Dear LGW, thank you for your comments which we have taken on board and has been discussed at our Practice Meeting. You are quite right about the need for privacy and discretion when patients and reception staff discuss personal information in a public space. To ensure this doesn't happen again, when communication is difficult and there is a risk of unintentional personal data disclosure, where possible, patients will be invited by a receptionist into one of our consulting rooms so that privacy is offered and personal data not overheard. This will ensure that we adhere to the current GDPR guidelines regarding data protection. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and for giving us the opportunity to learn and improve the process with the new Anima system which will augment the patient experience. Kind regards, Geoff Cook (Patient Liaison Officer)
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Review titled New requesting system is awful
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 19 January 2024
I've been trying for 2 weeks to book a routine appnt with a GP with no success. Happy to wait for a month but need a f2f appnt for renewal of HRT. I've tried booking through my NHS app & through Anima. Nothing showing on app & Anima is always at capacity. I rang reception in utter frustration to be told to submit a request through Anima at 8am. This is very tricky for me as I also work in a GP surgery & start work at 8am. By the time I'm able to get a break & do the request it's back to capacity again with nothing available! This new way of booking is far from ideal. Elm house has always been so good & I've recommended to others but not anymore
Visited January 2024
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 22 January 2024
Dear Patient, I am sorry you have found it so difficult to book an appointment using our new triaging system. As your review is anonymous I'm not able to contact you directly but, if you would kindly ring reception during office hours (9am - 5pm) and ask to be put through to me, I will liaise with one of our HRT clinicians on your behalf to see if there is a way we can accommodate an appointment for you. I hope this offer of support goes some way to restoring your confidence in this practice and that we can help you with your healthcare needs. Kind regards, Geoff Cook Patient Liaison Officer
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Review titled Hideous new online system leaves patients high & dry
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Sharon - Posted on 20 December 2023
The practice now insists that all appointments and other requests are made online via the Anima system. However they block patients from submitting requests and only take a fixed amount which opens at 8 o'clock each morning. I work unsocial hours and was faced with a "try again tomorrow" message both yesterday at 11 and today at 10 in the morning. It will not even allow repeat prescriptions to be ordered and there is no other mechanism for booking appointments into the future. Basically they take the first x no. of requests each day & the rest can go to hell! A&E I'm told is an option. This practice now operating solely for the convenience of staff & their only interest in patients appears to be the nos on books which are of course income generating. Great shame as it has been an excellent practice up until now. I suppose money talks!
Visited December 2023
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 21 December 2023
Dear Sharon, I'm sorry that you have experienced difficulties with our new triage system when you were trying to order a repeat prescription. If we have reached capacity for enquiries via Anima, you can still use the Patient Access app to order repeat prescriptions or you can call into the surgery to complete a repeat prescription request at the main desk and drop it into the box next to the forms. However, you have raised an important issue here that I will bring to our next Anima review meeting so that we can provide an alternative arrangements message on Anima to show what other options are available to patients when capacity has been reached. Embedding a new system like this takes a little while to get any teething issues ironed out for both staff and patients so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your feedback which will help us to improve the repeat prescription process for all our patients. Kind regards, Geoff Patient Liaison Officer
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Review titled new Anima health system
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 December 2023
tried to order a repeat subscription online at 10.00 am but Elm House's new Anima health system had already 'reached capacity' and was instructed to try again tomorrow at 8.00 am. Seems ridiculous--this is not an acceptable level of functionality.
Visited December 2023
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 21 December 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for your feedback. Please accept my apologies for the difficulties you experienced when trying to order a repeat prescription. Your comments have highlighted an issue that we need to address so that this doesn't happen again as there are alternative options available to patients who wish to order a repeat prescription. You can use the Patient Access app or you can complete a form in person at the surgery. Embedding a new system like this takes a little while to get any teething issues ironed out for both staff and patients. We believe that once the system has settled in patients will have access to a quicker and more efficient way of keeping in touch with their GP, particularly in times of urgency. However, we need to communicate more clearly to patients using Anima about alternatives available to them when capacity has been reached, so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have regular Anima review meetings and I will raise your concerns at the next one. Please bear with us as we seek to make improvements which will benefit all of our patients. Kind regards, Geoff Patient Liaison Officer
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Review titled Won’t accept phone call
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 November 2023
Phoned today was told they no longer take phone call appointments, I explained I was in discomfort and requested to see a GP the same day was told I had to register with the Anima app and log a request and they would not try book me an appointment. I registered with the anpp answered 20 questions and submitted my request. Then the same receptionist rang me and booked an appointment for me 2 weeks away. I asked again if I could see a gp today because I was in pain & was told no they don’t do same day appointments any more if I was in pain I should go to a&e I do not feel I was treated with dignity.
Visited November 2023
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 21 December 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for leaving your comments about our new triage system. I am sorry that you are not happy with the service provided by Elm House Surgery and that you felt that you were not treated with dignity. Our reception team do their utmost best to meet the needs of patients' enquiries. We have over 30,000 patients registered at both practices and so can only work with the amount of appointments that are available each day. Prior to Anima going live at the beginning of October, appointment bookings used to open online and on the phone at 8am and the appointments were usually all gone by 10am. But with Anima you can make a request from 8am to 4pm. The clinician triagers work until 6.30pm to action all the requests. Sometimes, if the cap of 250 requests in a day is reached access to appointments via Anima may be closed earlier in the day. Capping requests also protects our triagers from being over-tasked especially on days when we do not have a full complement of staff. On average, each clinician triager deals with 70 patient requests. On days when we do not have a full complement of staff we do our utmost best to triage as many patient requests as possible. When we have reached capacity we are contract-bound by NHS England to refer patients to Urgent Care, to NHS 111 or to A&E if requests cannot wait until the following day and it would seem that this is the situation you found yourself in. As you have completed your review anonymously it is difficult for me to check what happened on the day in question. However, if you'd like to contact me about the way in which the information was conveyed to you that led you to feeling like you were not treated with dignity, I will look into this further for you. I hope that this clarifies the situation for you. Kind regards, Geoff (Patient Liaison Officer)
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Review titled New Anima service
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by LGW - Posted on 30 October 2023
Elmhouse surgery has changed to a service, Anima, that vets patients needs for an appointment and changes the way one orders a prescription. You can no longer ask for an Econsult. There are other services that have been affected too. I registered with Anima when the surgery went live with the service on 05/10/23. I logged on yesterday, 29/10/23, in order to request a repeat prescription. I discovered that Anima subscribe to the same hours as the surgery, meaning they’re not open at the weekend. So I logged on again today to order my prescription and there was a notice saying the practice has reached capacity, no services were available and to try again tomorrow from 8am. At the beginning of last week my daughter, in her very early 30’s logged on, described her symptoms and requested an appointment. She has recently been diagnosed with arthritis in her hips and thinks she now has arthritis in her shoulder. 24 hours later Anima replied that it sounded like she has a frozen shoulder and advised her to do some exercises! Do they review peoples case notes to see if there is a history of pre-existing conditions?! While I was waiting to be called in by the gp I had an appointment with I heard an elderly man shouting at one of the receptionists-he was obviously angry and frustrated that you can no longer come in to reception to book an appointment. I feel bad for them both-the receptionist and the man. This shouldn’t be happening. It feels like the practice is being run more like a business and it’s not to the benefit of the patients or employees who have to defend the decision to use this service and face the public. My biggest concern is that elderly patients are being blindsided by this change, are anxious and frustrated by something that really should be so simple and available to them.
Visited October 2023
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 21 December 2023
Dear LGW, I am really sorry you are unhappy with the new Anima system and that you have had a poor experience from this surgery. As you have raised a few issues in your comments and as they are anonymous, please can you contact me/us so that I/we can go through each of the points you have raised whilst checking your medical notes at the same time. Many thanks and with kind regards, Geoff Patient Liaison Officer
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Review titled Excellent practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Dan - Posted on 04 July 2023
Can’t speak highly enough of Elm House, from the receptionists to the midwives to the Doctors, an exceptional example of how to run a medical practice despite all the struggles the NHS has to face. Run by people who genuinely care and go out of their way to ensure you get the treatment you need. Thank you for all the support and guidance you have provided me and my young family.
Visited July 2023
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 12 July 2023
Thank you ever so much for taking the time to leave your review! We are really pleased that you have received such a positive experience from our staff and clinicians at the surgery and that the care and treatment provided has met your needs and that of your family's. Your comments have been passed on to the relevant staff who would like to thank you for your kind and helpful review.
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Review titled Excellent practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Pauline Moody - Posted on 06 June 2023
I am really happy with every aspect of this practice from the kind Receptionists to the very professional and thorough GPs, from Junior doctor up to the most senior. It is easy to get an urgent appointment if you follow the guidelines (8am call) and the follow up is as good as if not better than a private practice ( I have experienced both). Well done!!
Visited June 2023
Review titled Elm House Surgery
Replied on 12 July 2023
Thank you very much for taking the time to write your review which we are delighted to receive! It is good to know that your experiences at the practice are such positive ones and that you are receiving the high quality care we strive to achieve. We have shared your comments with our staff and clinicians as we value all feedback received, whether positive or negative, which helps us to continually make improvements whilst celebrating our successes.