Harborne Medical Practice
4 York Street, Harborne, Birmingham, West Midlands, B17 0HGContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Terrible booking system
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 December 2024
I am very sorry if my review is not good. I believe the doctors working at the surgery provide a good service, for the few lucky persons able to get an appointment. Sadly, the appointment system is ridiculous, with no attempt to get it better (it is going worst). There are only two moments of the day to get appointment (in a window of less than one minute). Note that this system is not only for emergencies, but for basically any appointment (at least this what has been told me). It is impossible to use and discriminatory for who is not able to call or to connect at the required time, or do not have the flexibility to be ready for an appointment right away. There is no rational reason for this to be in place, the "huge levels of demand" is chronic, and there is no attempt to improve the situation (e.g. the clinic is still accepting new patients). It is not true that this is a national problem, other clinics has more acceptable booking system.
Visited December 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 24 December 2024
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding your experience of our practice. I am sorry on this occasion we did not meet your expectations, as it is never our intention to cause upset to our patients, their families or carers. I will attempt to address your queries on a point by point basis: You are correct in that GP appointments are released twice a day; this however does not preclude patients from continuing to call, look on line or come in to the surgery to see if appointments are available with GP’s and other allied health professionals. In terms of this being discriminatory, we do our best to offer equal access to our appointments via phone, website and in person and are sorry if you feel this is not the case. As is the experience of many other practices, we know we are not always able to meet patient demand. We however do our best to ensure patients who need to see a clinician are able to do so, and this includes signposting patients to NHS111. You state this is not a national issue, however feedback from patients, professionals and the media tell us the lack of GP appointments is very much a national issue and something which we are sure Government is keen to address. In the meantime, the practice is unable to stop accepting patients as this would effectively mean closing its’ list and this is not something we are contractually able to do currently, or would wish to do in any case. In terms of what we are doing to address the issues you raise, measures include the practice recruiting additional GP's alongside other clinical staff who are trained and competent to consult with patients. Additionally, our reception staff are also trained in Care Navigation, to help ensure that patients are directed to the best clinician to meet their needs. We are always happy to meet with patients to discuss their feedback and would be willing to do so here. Please contact the practice if you would like to arrange this and we can discuss this further. I will share your comments with our staff team and thank you once again for these. Best wishes Lilian Sayers
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Review titled Great practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Jean - Posted on 15 December 2024
I seen Dr twice because I forgot to asked questions about my condition, the first time and all the stuff was very helpful, nothing is too much trouble and will go out of there way to help you 😁
Visited December 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 24 December 2024
Dear Jean Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding your experience at our practice. It is great to see that you feel our staff are helpful and you are clearly happy with the care we are providing. I will share your positive comments with our staff team and thank you once again for these. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled Pharmacy consultation - excellent appoitnments
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Gareth Lewis - Posted on 11 November 2024
I have had multiple appointments with a pharmacist (for some reason I cannot include her name in this feedback???) wrt tapering down and stopping sertraline. She is very knowledgable and helpful - having regular F/u appointments over the course of 2 months has been very beneficial. It is often extremely difficult to get booked in to the practice in general, however this approach has been reliable and easy for me. She has been very supportive and I would recommend her/this approach to anyone else in a similar position.
Visited November 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 December 2024
Dear Gareth Many thanks for taking the time to comment on your positive experience of receiving care from our practice. It is great to know you feel our Pharmacist is knowledgeable, helpful and supportive and you recommend their approach to providing care. We have shared your comments with our Pharmacist, who also wishes to thank you for these. We appreciate your feedback. Regards Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled Terrible appointment system
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 18 July 2024
Arrived at 13:45 for an appointment having tried to get an appt for a lump that could be cancerous for at least 3 weeks. Given a number (number 8) and asked to take a seat. Then people holding cards and not holding cards queued up at 2pm and appointments given out chaotically with no attention being given to the card system. I joined to queue and by the time I got to the desk was given an appt for late afternoon. Useless appointment system.
Visited July 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 August 2024
Dear patient Thank you for taking time to leave your feedback on the care you received from our practice. I am sorry we did not meet your expectations on this occasion. We introduced the number system in response to patient feedback and recognise this is not perfect but does seem to work on the whole. I have checked the CCTV for the date in question and it seems that the majority of patients wanting an appointment were given one and I am glad to know you were seen the same day. We encourage patients to book on line where possible and not turn up at the surgery but do recognise not all patients are able to do this. Following on from your feedback we give out a defined number of cards and patients are advised to then use the online booking system. I have shared your feedback with our reception team and other related staff. Thank you once again for your comments. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled Bad practice
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 26 July 2024
Received results from gum as well as a text msg from one of the gos from the Surgery for same health condition. Attended a gP appointment and was seen by another gp who wasn’t keen on helping me with the health challenges I presented to him as he was bold enough to tell me that i should be there to be seen for cholesterol tests results regardless of me being seen twice by 2 Drs for same within a short period of time. Does it mean that patients are not allowed/expected to present any other health issues besides what they are known to be suffering from? Was disappointed and I hope i will never go to the surgery and meet him again as he definitely failed me. I know we have shortage of gps but if you still want to work for NHS please deliver care accordingly otherwise you will be reported
Visited June 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 August 2024
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback on the care you received from our practice. I am sorry we did not meet your expectations on this occasion. Without knowing your circumstances in full, it is difficult to comment specifically. What I can say is a clinician would ordinarily arrange an appointment following test results or to care for chronic health conditions and I feel it would have been for these reasons the GP asked to see you and was anticipating providing care for. Where we have patients requesting an appointment, staff will ask the reason for the appointment and would of course provide care for the condition presented. Where there is more than one condition, patients are advised to make a double appointment and I can only assume this was a single appointment. I am not clear from your feedback whether you were able to discuss your health condition and not just that which the GP originally wanted to see you about; in an ideal world we would have wanted you to have the opportunity to do both and there would have been reasons why this did not happen, if that is the case. I am happy to discuss this further with you, should you wish to get in touch and provide more detail and we share the detail of patient feedback across the practice where relevant. Thank you once again for your feedback. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled Great service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Ali Robinson - Posted on 16 May 2024
She spent a lot of effort getting information together to progress treatment for ongoing arthritis issues and was very swift in calling back and arranging new prescriptions. She was extremely kind and helpful.
Visited May 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 June 2024
Dear Ali Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding the care you experienced at our practice. It is reassuring to see that our staff provided you with timely information regarding how to manage your condition, alongside the necessary medication. It is also great that you feel our staff are kind and helpful too. I will share your positive comments with our staff team and thank you once again for these. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled No appointments available
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 14 May 2024
I called today at 14:10 to book a follow-up appointment for my 12-year-old son, who will likely require a referral. After waiting for about an hour, they informed me that there were no available appointments for today, and they wouldn’t even call back. Instead, I was advised to call 111. Alternatively, I’ll need to go through the entire process again tomorrow. To her credit, the lady on the phone attempted to leave a note for the doctor my son saw last time. However, the doctor won’t be back until Monday. While my son’s case isn’t an emergency, it does require evaluation to determine if a referral is necessary. I find it unclear why patients have to “compete” for same-day doctor appointments or settle for nothing (either call 111 or try again tomorrow). The practice should consider expanding, as it currently seems unable to meet patient demand
Visited May 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 June 2024
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding your experience of our practice. I am sorry on this occasion we did not meet your expectations, as it is never our intention to cause upset to our patients, their families or carers. We recognise that we are not always able to offer appointments to meet patient demand and are doing our utmost to address this national issue. This includes the practice recruiting additional GP's alongside other allied clinical staff who are trained and competent to consult with patients. Our reception staff are also trained in Care Navigation, to help ensure that patients are directed to the best clinician to meet their needs. We do advise patients to look for online appointments or on our website where we update AM and PM when our GP appointments are used, although there may be other appointments available with allied health professionals. As is the experience of many other practices, we know we are not always able to meet patient demand. We however do our best to ensure patients who need to see a clinician are able to do so, and this includes signposting patients to NHS111. We are always happy to meet with patients to discuss their feedback and would be willing to do so here. Please contact the practice if you would like to arrange this and we can discuss the other issues you raise. I will share your comments with our staff team and thank you once again for these. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled Great advice from pharmacist
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Alex Leung - Posted on 09 April 2024
Over the past few weeks I have had the benefit of getting advice from the pharmacist at Harborne Medical Practice regarding my father’s medication. The experience has been great and over 3 appointments, I was able to get great advice which has been tailored to his changing circumstances. All my questions were answered in full and I would highly recommend the service provided.
Visited April 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 June 2024
Dear Alex Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding the care you experienced at our practice. It is reassuring to see that our pharmacist consistently gave your father great advice and took the time to respond to any questions fully. Thank you too for recommending our practice and I will share your positive comments with our pharmacist and wider staff team. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager
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Review titled Good practice
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 February 2024
I registered with this practice a year ago. The appointments that I had were the necessary ones where they will write to you. My experience so far has been great. Recently I have been trying to book an appointment to see the GP about a problem that I have. I have been calling the practice but I have not been successful in getting an appointment. I waited on the line for 39 minutes after being 8 in the queue. When I finally got through I was told that appointments are only available on the day and that there were no appointments left. I called at 8 am on another day only to get a recording saying that they were experiencing a high volume of calls, so call back another time. So I decided to call at five minutes to eight the following day only to get a recording saying that the practice opens at 8 am. I called at exactly 8 am and got a recorded message saying that they are experiencing a high volume of calls. So if I called at exactly 8 am and there was a high volume of calls, when did they start taking calls? I am very disappointed with this service. Why can't I book a non urgent appointment in advance?
Visited February 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 05 June 2024
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding your experience of our practice. Thank you for advising your experience had been a positive one prior to this event and I am sorry on this occasion we did not meet your expectations. Please know that it is never our intention to cause upset to our patients, their families or carers. We recognise that we are not always able to offer appointments to meet patient demand and are doing our utmost to address this national issue. To address your question specifically regarding when staff take calls, I can confirm this is at 08:00 and this is the same time that online appointments for the day are released, in addition to 14:00. I can confirm you are able to book in advance where capacity allows. In terms of addressing this national matter, the practice recruiting additional GP's alongside other clinical staff who are trained and competent to consult with patients. Our reception staff are also trained in Care Navigation, to help ensure that patients are directed to the best clinician to meet their needs. We do advise patients to look for online appointments or on our website where we update AM and PM when our GP appointments are used, although there may be other appointments available with allied health professionals. As is the experience of many other practices, we know we are not always able to meet patient demand. We however do our best to ensure patients who need to see a clinician are able to do so, and this includes signposting patients to NHS111. We are always happy to meet with patients to discuss their feedback and would be willing to do so here. Please contact the practice if you would like to arrange this and we can discuss further. I will share your comments with our staff team and thank you once again for these. Best wishes Lilian Sayers
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Review titled service has improved
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 11 March 2024
I’ve been with the practice for years, and this was the 1st time I’ve felt that my queries/concerns have been heard, followed through. Quick referral to see a specialist, phone calls from the Dr keeping me updated about my results, and asking about the referral appointments. I am very pleased
Visited February 2024
Review titled Harborne Medical Practice
Replied on 18 March 2024
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding the care you received at our practice. On the whole we see your comments as positive although we would be interested to know more about your previous experiences with our practice. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss these with me. It is good to know that your referral was quickly made and we kept you updated regarding the progress of this. It is great to know you are pleased with your care. I will share your feedback with the practice team and thank you once again for your comments. Best wishes Lilian Sayers Business Manager