Norton Medical Centre
Billingham Road, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, TS20 2UZContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled A joke getting a doctors appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by ANN BROWNBRIDGE - Posted on 12 April 2023
.Again tried to get a doctors appointment,,waiting for almost 20 mins then was cut off,,phoned again,,the call box was full,and to try again later,,I got through again ,,gues what no appointments for today or in the near future !!!..I have no choice but now go to a&e.what a total waste on the nhs,,I have put up with this for 4 days now,,and can no longer wait..We have been registered at this practice for over 4 years,and never got an appointment,only for my cortisone injections,which I had to wait for 3 weeks to get that..The healthcare appointments really good,,no problems there.Surely a better system could be put in place.They even said that no doctors appointments were available in the near future..
Visited April 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 24 April 2023
Firstly, we are sorry to hear of your difficulty in getting an appointment, this is not the service we strive to offer, but we, like many other GP Practices in the UK, are struggling to meet the current level of demand for our services. We will continue to do our best each day to deliver as many appointments as it is safe to do so. Ultimately, we do not have unlimited resources and are currently working to maximum capacity. There are now 1,990 fewer fully qualified full-time GPs than in September 2015. This long-term decline coincides with a rise in patients. There was a record-high average of 9,689 patients per practice in December 2022. As a result, the average number of patients each full-time equivalent GP is responsible for has now reached 2,273 - a 17% increase since 2015 - demonstrating the mounting workload in general practice. Although I recognise there is still an unmet need, local data provided by NHSE Data Quality for March 2023 (the most recent data available) showed Norton Medical Centre provided 1 appointment for every 1.98 registered patients, which is higher than the Clinical Commissioning Group average of 1 appointment per 2.29 patients. This is an increase from December 2022, where we offered 1 appointment for every 2.48 registered patients (which was higher than the Clinical Commissioning Group average of 1 appointment per 2.71 patients). Sadly, local data from NHSE Data Quality also shows that Norton Medical Centre has a higher rate of patients who do not attend ("DNA") appointments, with 1 DNA per 29.02 appointments, compared to the local average of 1 DNA per 24.72 appointments, despite introducing a cancellation line. I wish I was able to tell you that I will take the necessary action to rectify this situation, but in reality I can only guarantee that the staff and doctors at Norton Medical Centre will continue to work as hard as they can, to deliver the best service they are able to provide, within the limitation of the resources they have at their disposal. We appreciate that this must feel frustrating, and we share this frustration, as we really want to help you when you need us most. Thank you for providing your name which allowed me to look into your records. I can see that you attended A&E as detailed, but no treatment was required. Many GP appointments are taken for acute, self-limiting conditions such as this, which would be better treated at home or at the Pharmacy. Reducing the amount of appointments in General Practice and Urgent Care for minor ailments will allow more appointment availability for patients with more serious need. Please utilise the community pharmacy for minor ailments. The statement you have made regarding your appointment history does not match the information recorded in your medical record. If you would like access to your online records which can provide you access to this type of information please contact Reception. Yours sincerely Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Great practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 28 April 2023
Patient and doctor care over the last couple of months I've needed help my doctors have been fantastic my doctor had also phoned out of hours to let me know about health related issues
Visited April 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 02 May 2023
Dear Patient Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. It means a great deal to all of us at Norton Medical Centre to read your kind words and to know we have been able to help you in your time of need. I look forward to sharing your feedback with the GPs and wider team. Thank you for reminding us why we continue to work hard, despite the challenges we face; it is really fantastic to hear of your positive experience. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Caring and Professional
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Sarah - Posted on 24 April 2023
Thank you Norton medical centre for giving excellent care even though I know you are under pressure and under appreciated! I am sorry some people treat healthcare staff badly and leave unfair reviews. I feel lucky to be registered at this surgery. Yes sometimes you are fully booked as all surgeries are but the staff are very nice and caring and would help if they could. When I have got appointment it has been great. I hope you are all given the support you need thank you again.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 24 April 2023
Dear Sarah Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. It means a great deal to all of us at Norton Medical Centre to read your kind words and to know we have helped someone. We aim to treat all patients with care, respect and empathy, so it is uplifting to hear that you feel we have achieved that goal. Thank you for reminding us why we continue to work hard, despite the challenges we face; it is really fantastic to hear of your positive experience. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Very poor practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Geraldine Majella Codner - Posted on 18 April 2023
Yet again, Norton medical practice failed to come through, called today at 9am did manage to get through this time, I needed to arrange an appointment or to speak to a doctor, I.was told by the receptionist that there was no appointments available and to call 111 or go to the hospital, in the 11 months that I have lived in Norton, iv had one appointment so far, all my treatment has been given by the walk in centre's, I wouldn't even know who my doctor is, this practice definitely has a bad manager and a very bad reputation, they have more bad reviews than good which speaks for itself, I'm due to move town soon and finding a new practice will be a good thing.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 21 April 2023
Dear Geraldine Codner We are sorry to hear of your difficulty in getting an appointment, this is not the service we strive to offer, but we, like many other GP Practices in the UK, are struggling to meet the current level of demand for our services. We will continue to do our best each day to deliver as many appointments as it is safe to do so. Ultimately, we do not have unlimited resources and are currently working to maximum capacity. The reality is that there are simply not enough Clinicians or resources in General Practice to meet demand. In December 2022, the NHS lost the equivalent of 17 full-time fully qualified GPs compared to the previous month, and there are now 1,990 fewer fully qualified full-time GPs than in September 2015. This long-term decline coincides with a rise in patients. In Dec 2022, 62.2m patients were registered with practices in England, with a record-high average of 9,689 patients per practice. As a result, the average number of patients each full-time equivalent GP is responsible for has now reached 2,273 - a 17% increase since 2015 - demonstrating the mounting workload in general practice. The European Union of General Practitioners and British Medical Association (BMA) have recommended a safe level of patient contacts per day in order for a GP to deliver safe care, at not more than 25 contacts per day. At Your Service, published by the Policy Exchange and forwarded by Sajid Javid, states that 28 patient contacts per day is safe. Our GPs regularly have more than double the recommended patient contacts per day, but unfortunately it is still not enough to meet demand. This is a National problem. Although I recognise there is still an unmet need, local data provided by NHSE Data Quality for March 2023 (the most recent data available) showed Norton Medical Centre provided 1 appointment for every 1.98 registered patients, which is higher than the Clinical Commissioning Group average of 1 appointment per 2.29 patients. This is an increase from December 2022, where we offered 1 appointment for every 2.48 registered patients (which was higher than the Clinical Commissioning Group average of 1 appointment per 2.71 patients). Sadly, local data from NHSE Data Quality also shows that Norton Medical Centre has a higher rate of patients who do not attend ("DNA") appointments, with 1 DNA per 29.02 appointments, compared to the local average of 1 DNA per 24.72 appointments, despite introducing a cancellation line. I wish I was able to tell you that I will take the necessary action to rectify this situation, but in reality I can only guarantee that the staff and doctors at Norton Medical Centre will continue to work as hard as they can, to deliver the best service they are able to provide, within the limitation of the resources they have at their disposal. Yours sincerely Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Great practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Alison - Posted on 06 March 2023
I would like to thank Norton medical centre for your very efficient service. I phoned needing an appointment the receptionist was so helpful within an hour I had a call from the GP then a visit to the surgery where I was seen promptly then referred for further tests. The GP was so kind and helpful. Keep up the good work Norton Medical Centre your doing a great job.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 27 March 2023
Dear Alison Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. It means a great deal to all of us at Norton Medical Centre to see those five stars and to read your kind words. We aim to treat all patients with care, respect and empathy, so it is uplifting to hear that on this occasion we appear to have achieved that goal. Thank you for reminding us why we continue to work hard, despite the challenges we face; it is really fantastic to hear of your positive experience. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Terrible service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 April 2023
I’ve been a patient at this surgery all my life at one point in time they offered a good service but now It is a joke. Trying to get an appointment with this practice goes like this. You ring at 8:30am and stay on the line for 25-40 mins only to be told that they are no appointments left call back tomorrow to do it all again. I asked could I get an appointment for another day (in the past they use to do this), since my problem is not urgent I could wait though I am slightly concerned if I am causing more damage In the long run by using the area that’s causing pain. but alas appointments are only for that day which is difficult if you work I can’t exactly go to my boss at 10am that day and say I need to be away by 1:30pm especially as I am a delivery driver. I know you can book online but last time I tried the only appointments available were for the phlebotomist. I even used the e-consult with another problem I had about a year back since I was in the same scenario but no one replied. I am in the process of trying to see a podiatrist about my issue as I know I have little chance of actually seeing a doctor here.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 21 April 2023
I am sorry to hear of the occasions we were fully booked to safe capacity when you contacted to request an appointment, I appreciate this can be frustrating. We, like all NHS Services, are under immense pressure and have to rely on patient's patience and understanding that we are working to maximum capacity. Each working day more same-day and future bookable appointments are released, which is why our Reception Team will advise patients to try again at a future date. The number of pre-bookable appointments is limited to ensure that patients can also access same day appointments for acute problems, as we do not have unlimited resources. We can only safely provide so many appointments each day and thus the more routine appointments we allow to be booked in advance, the less appointments there are to meet the same day needs, and vice versa. Once our appointments are fully booked to safe capacity, we prioritise triaging acutely unwell children and palliative patients. We are not an emergency service and work alongside 111 to try to meet the needs of our patients. Anyone unable to reach us who feels that they will come to harm if they do not receive medical assistance should contact 111 online in the first instance, or ring 999, where appropriate, to access emergency services. We will continue to do our best to deliver as many appointments as it is safe to do so. Appointments which do not require triage, such as phlebotomy, are available to book online; for online triage, we offer the eConsult service on our website. It is surprising to hear you did not receive a response to your eConsult, I am sorry for any inconvenience caused. When a patient raises a concern through our complaints procedure we can undertake a full investigation, including utilising the call recording feature where necessary. Learning points from complaints and incidents are then discussed at dedicated Reflective Practice meetings, to allow us to share lessons and improve patient care going forwards. Unfortunately, as you have left an anonymous review I am unable to investigate your claim further, but encourage you to officially report the incident to the Practice to allow me to do so. Yours sincerely Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Terrible practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Geraldine Majella Codner - Posted on 02 March 2023
I moved from Bradford to Norton and registered at Norton Medical Centre and I can honestly say I have never seen a system like the one they use, if you call for an appointment you can't get through even after days of continuesly calling, if you go down to the practice they tell you that they don't make appointments over the counter and that you have to call, it's a no win situation, you can't book appointments on the online system so I don't know why they have that, the emergency services and the walk in Centre at teeside hospital must be so tired of having to deal with patients from the Norton medical centre it's disgusting.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 23 March 2023
I apologise for any inconvenience caused by being fully booked to safe capacity. Regrettably we find ourselves in a period of unprecedented demand and, like many other Practices nationwide, we do not have the resources to match. Our Reception Team start at 8.00am to set up, perform administrative tasks and assist patients who are attending pre-booked appointments. This is facilitated by delaying the phone lines until 8.30am. It is important we do not provide earlier access to patients able to physically attend the Surgery at 8.00am, therefore we do not release appointments until 8.30am when the phone lines open for equity. Tokens were given to patients who presented at the Practice before 8:30 to keep their place in a the physical queue. Creating an additional queue did not create additional appointments, resulting in two shorter queues with frustrated patients at the end of each. This decision was made to streamline the system into one queue that all patients had equal access to, by withdrawing tokens. Patients can contact the practice by utilising the eConsult feature on our website for routine problems or administrative requests, or by calling Reception from 8.30am. Please note that like all appointments, the number of eConsultation appointments are limited, once fully booked this feature is switched off. Although we are unable to increase the number of appointments we offer beyond safe limits, we have invested in a new telephone system to make contacting the Practice easier. This includes a longer queue to reduce the chances of getting an engaged tone and offering a call back option for patients at the end of the queue. We hope these features improve patient experience, however we recognise that the system requires further updating to be suitable for the changing demand. We are working on introducing a new system in the coming months and thank our patients for their patience while this is ongoing. We are seeing increasingly complex patients because although GPs can make referrals into consultant-led outpatient services, the pressure in hospitals means there is no capacity in secondary care, and those referrals are rejected. The number of GP referrals to consultant-led outpatient services that have been unsuccessful because there are no slots available has jumped from 238,859 in February 2020 to a staggering 401,115 in November 2021 (an 87% increase). When we are unable to refer into hospital services, these patients need to be cared for by GPs while they wait for hospital treatment to go ahead, adding to the backlog in primary care. Although I recognise there is still an unmet need, local data provided by NHSE Data Quality for January 2023 showed Norton Medical Centre provided 1 appointment for every 2.23 registered patients, which is higher than the Clinical Commissioning Group average of 1 appointment per 2.40 patients. Yours sincerely, Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Great practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by N stuart - Posted on 07 March 2023
Doctors and nurses are all caring and interested in your health. Easy to talk to do follow ups if required, all receptionists and office staff are very pleasant and helpful, glad to be in this practice and would recommend it to any one.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 20 April 2023
Dear Mr Stuart Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review and for reminding us why we continue to work hard, despite the challenges we face; it is really fantastic to hear of your positive experience. It means a great deal to all of us at Norton Medical Centre to see those five stars and to know you would recommend us. We appreciate your feedback. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager
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Review titled Shocking service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 22 March 2023
Trying to get through is a nightmare. I rang at 8.30 am eventually spoke to someone by 9.10 am to be told no appointments available and to go to urgent care. If we didn't have to explain everything first to a reception then wait for a call from gp before been told we need to be seen in surgery they could fit more patients in for actual appointments. So much time wasted on phone calls, technically if I get a call from gp then I have to attend surgery that's 2 appointments I've had which could be 1 for me and 1 for someone else. This is rapidly getting worse and something needs doing.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 21 April 2023
We are sorry to hear of your difficulty in getting through for an appointment, this is not the service we strive to offer, but we, like many other GP Practices in the UK, are struggling to meet the current level of demand for our services. We will continue to do our best each day to deliver as many appointments as it is safe to do so. Ultimately, we do not have unlimited resources and are currently working to maximum capacity. We have recently invested in a new telephone system to allow for 50 incoming lines, an increase from 12. The system allows patients in the queue from lines 9 through to 50 a "call back" option, which holds their place in the queue and one of our Reception team returns the call. This happens automatically as the Receptionist lifts the receiver to the next call. Calls on lines 1-8 are placed on hold to speak to a Receptionist. We receive an enormous amount of calls and have limited appointment availability. Once all available appointments have been booked, the Reception team will signpost patients to the most appropriate service, including 111 or Urgent Care Centre. The team can now also make appointments for patients under the Minor Ailments Scheme at participating local Pharmacies as well as directing patients to e-consultations available via our website. In addition, there is access to a limited number of routine GP appointments provided by Hartlepool and Stockton Health on evenings at on a Saturday. The Partners have asked our Reception team to ask for a brief summary for the reason for the call in order to direct patients to the most appropriate professional or service; General Practice has grown considerably in attempt to manage increased demand, now consisting of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals with an array of knowledge and experience. Appointments must be conducted with the most appropriate Clinician available to maximise capacity, which is not always a GP. Receptionists taking information from patients has no bearing on the amount of appointments provided by the clinical staff. For routine appointments, patients are offered the choice of a telephone or face to face consultation. Urgent same day requests are triaged by the Duty Clinicians (either a Doctor or an Advanced Clinical Practitioner) as many illnesses can be assessed and treated by telephone and do not result in a face to face appointment. For those patients that are assessed as needing examination, their telephone appointments are either amended to face to face, and do not take up a second appointment slot, or an appointment is added to the system for the clinician to book into. Although I recognise there is still an unmet need, local data provided by NHSE Data Quality for March 2023 (the most recent data available) showed Norton Medical Centre provided 1 appointment for every 1.98 registered patients, which is higher than the Clinical Commissioning Group average of 1 appointment per 2.29 patients. Yours sincerely Leigh Malloy
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Review titled Excellent surgery during difficult times
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Paul - Posted on 24 April 2023
Brilliant surgery, yes they are very busy and sometimes it is difficult to get an appointment but when this happens they tell you know where else you can receive care. They should not be expected to have unlimited capacity but people these days do. I posted this after seeing someone on Facebook trying to encourage others to leave bad reviews - it should not be allowed! If the surgery was so bad you wouldn’t have to do that. I worry about losing good doctors because of the treatment they receive online. Thanks to the staff. Most patients are very grateful and able to understand what is going on in the world right now. Please do not leave because of a few bad patients. Thank you.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Norton Medical Centre
Replied on 24 April 2023
Dear Paul Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. It means so much to all the staff at Norton Medical Centre to read your kind words. Although we may not have the resources available to meet demand, we are committed to providing a good service to the patients we have capacity to care for, as well as treating all patients with care and respect, so it is uplifting to hear that you believe we achieve that goal. Thank you for making me aware of the Facebook campaign designed to generate negative reviews; it is disappointing that anyone would attempt to influence others to leave a negative review, rather than allowing them to leave an honest review with their own experience. However, I am delighted that seeing this made you feel compelled to leave a positive review instead. It is reassuring to know that patients like yourself recognise the challenges that we are facing and value the care we can provide. I understand that you are concerned with the national reduction in GP numbers over recent years, however please be reassured that the Doctors at Norton Medical Centre are dedicated to their patients and would not allow online comments to impact the care provided. In addition to GPs, the clinical team at Norton Medical Centre has grown in attempt to manage increased demand, now consisting of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals with an array of knowledge and experience, including a Clinical Pharmacist, Nurse Practitioner, Trainee Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Paramedic Practitioner. We will continue to look at news, innovative ways to safely increase appointment capacity to improve patient experience. Again, I would like to express our gratitude for you taking the time to leave this honest and understanding review. Thank you for reminding us why we continue to work hard, despite the challenges we face. Kind regards Leigh Malloy Practice Manager