Swallowfield Medical Practice
The Street, Swallowfield, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 1QYContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled Above and beyond Service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Caz - Posted on 23 November 2023
My child has recurrent tonsillitis and has been waiting for an appointment to have them removed. We have been waiting 12 months, through which time the Surgery have seen us every time needed for medicine. This last time we went on a Monday and the Dr said she was going to write to the hospital to see if they could find us a date. By Wednesday afternoon we had a phone call with dates. They are just so helpful and supportive. We are so grateful for them.
Visited November 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 24 November 2023
Dear Caz Thank you for taking the time to leave a review of our surgery. Your comments are greatly appreciated and have been shared with all of the surgery team. We are glad to hear that you have received dates for the surgery and that our team have been able to help. Kind regards Swallowfield Medical Practice
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Review titled Solution for waiting times
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 October 2023
I get extremely anxious and stressed sitting in medical waiting rooms - crying kids, coughing, sneezing, noise, people moving around, constant state of alert waiting for my name to be called, worrying about getting back to my next meeting in time, heart going, mind tying itself in knots as there’s no outlet or distraction - often for well over 15 mins, sometimes 45. I get into my appointments a mess, sometimes crying - it’s horrible as I’m generally a ‘normal’ kinda person. That stress used to be put me off going to get medical advice or help… until now… I was offered a quiet space to wait, but better still, I was offered a buzzer and allowed to wait outdoors or in my car, and all the anxiety and stress evaporated and I had a great appointment (late, but it didn’t get to me). Great solution for anxiety-suffering people like me and I feel like I no longer need to avoid my doctor. Thanks Swallowfield.
Visited September 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 24 November 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review of our surgery. Your comments are greatly appreciated and have been shared with all of the surgery team. It is great to hear that the buzzer system that we implemented during the pandemic is still being positively received and used to reduce stress and anxiety. We plan to continue to use the buzzers in the future. Kind regards Swallowfield Medical Practice
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Review titled Great practice and staff
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by A. Claridge - Posted on 14 August 2023
I have only been with Swallowfield Surgery for a short while but they have been amazing. From reception staff to the doctors, they have all been friendly and professional but most of all I felt cared for, listened to and understood. Whilst I appreciate the doctors have many patients to see i did not feel rushed in my appointment and I left feeling better and that I am in safe hands. My thanks to everyone at the practice
Visited August 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 14 August 2023
Many thanks for taking the time to leave such positive feedback for us. Your kind words have been shared with the whole team as it really is a team effort here to do the best we can for our patients. I am glad we have been able to help you and whilst I do not wish you any ill health, I hope we can continue to serve you well in the years to come. Thank you again, Helen and the Team
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Review titled Fantastic Practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Katherine Bray - Posted on 01 August 2023
I am so impressed with the care received from everyone I have had contact with at the Practice. At my previous doctors we had to queue along the outside of the building early in the morning to try to get an appointment, in all weather. I therefore appreciate that, although the lines are busy first thing, on the rare occasion I have called later in the day for an urgent matter, I have been seen. I feel the staff are dealing with challenging situations not of their making and, in my dealing with them, have found them to be professional and caring. I feel safe and listened to and could not ask for more. Thank you!
Visited July 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 02 August 2023
Ms Bray, thank you so much for finding the time to leave this wonderful feedback - it has been sent to all of the practice staff to ensure everyone sees such positive feedback. It's hard sometimes not to get caught up in the negativity which surrounds the NHS and GPs sometimes, so to have such kind feedback is always a morale booster for everyone. I am so proud of the staff - I can see how hard they work and how much of themselves they give to their work and the patients. We can't get everything right all of the time, no matter how hard we try and how hard we want to. It's lovely to read some feedback that is so glowing, thank for very much. Helen and the Team :)
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Review titled Two sides to this coin
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 12 June 2023
There is one great thing about Swallowfield Practice. The actual clinicians, from the senior doctors down to the healthcare assistants, are just wonderful. I've been using this practice for well over 20 years, and have never had a single negative experience dealing with a healthcare provider. On the other hand, waiting times for appointments are a joke. Weeks and weeks for a scheduled appointment. The phones just ring and ring, and the reception staff can be unhelpful and intransigent. A very mixed blessing. If you're seen by a doctor, you'll get wonderful treatment, but you might have died of old age before you get there.
Visited June 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 13 June 2023
I am very glad that you feel our clinicians are caring and helpful. This is how I know each clinician to be. I am sorry however that you find the delay in getting a scheduled appointment is 'a joke'. If patients are urgently unwell they can see any one of our Acute Illness clinicians, the very same day. If, however, a patient wants to see a specific clinician on a specific day and at a specific time of day, then this can lead to delays. Whilst five out of our eight doctors work full time, they do have and indeed need, time off as they each work four long days per week. In an ideal world this would not be the case but in the world, we are currently living in, this is the only way we can manage patient needs / expectations whilst ensuring that the physical and mental health of our clinicians is protected. I can promise you and all of our patients with hand on heart, that our reception team answer all calls as quickly as they can. Whilst patients may only see one or two receptionists at the front desk, there is an office full of receptionist at the back of the practice dealing with incoming and outgoing calls as quickly as they can. Whilst I will never tolerate rude and dismissive staff (staff of any level) the job of a medical receptionist is quite often a thankless task. They work to the SOPs and directions of the GP Partners and are tasked with the job of giving the patients what they want, as often as they can. This however is not always possible and if patients do not get the appointment they want (for example) this is not because the reception staff want to be difficult or ruin a patients' day - it's because they cannot meet that patients' expectation / needs. If they were able to give each patient everything the patient wanted, I would have happy patients, happy staff and this would make working in Primary Care a complete and utter pleasure. We want to be able to give every patient that they want but this is not always possible: we do the best we can with the resources available to us. I am sorry that you didn't feel able to leave your name with your feedback. This would have allowed us the opportunity to discuss your comments personally and for us to work together to find the best resolution together. Thank you again for leaving this feedback - I will share this with the whole team and discuss the points you raise with the GP Partners at my earliest opportunity. Thank you again, Helen and the team
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Review titled Useless
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 17 May 2023
Phone just rings and rings. When they do decide to answer, front desk staff are extremely short and unhelpful. It feels like I’m being an irritation to them. I had to drag out any sort of helpful response. Really unfriendly and almost hostile in their approach. NHS service is a joke. There should be an option to not be part of it, to not pay into it for NI.
Visited May 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 20 May 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this feedback as we aim to share and learn from all feedback, whether negative or positive. I am very sorry you did not feel able to leave your name as I could have contacted you, discussed your experience and seen how best I can help you going forward. I am truly sorry you have had problems getting through on the phone and when you do, you feel dismissed. This is not the service we aim to give any of our patients. In an attempt to put the work reception (and the rest of the team) do in to some context, we currently have in excess of 15,700 patients registered with us and we have 'capacity' for 13,000. This means physical capacity - room for staff to work in, number of phone lines into and out of the practice, number of clinicians and staff working etc. We have extended the practice as far as we can - we have split some consultation rooms into two to accommodate the extra patients and we are currently recruiting new staff (reception, nursing and GPs) to help us manage the extra workload. Until these new staff members are in place, we have to manage the extra almost 3000 patients with the staff numbers we had for the previous limit of 13,000. We have continued to increase our workforce over the last 5 yrs but are running out of space to put them. Some staff members are leaving because the pressures of working in the Secondary Care setting (and wider NHS) is a virtually thankless task. Some patients have unrealistic expectations of what we can and can't do for them in the current climate. As a close working team I can assure you we want to give every patient a level of service we would want to receive ourselves. As a close working team we try very hard to achieve this each and every time. I am sorry if we miss the mark from time to time. Whilst I make no excuses for members of staff who may be curt on the phone, it can be hard to take constant abuse and still be 100% on point when you are taking call after call where you are berated, verbally abused and demoralised by the callers before you. Had you felt confident enough to leave your name I would have been able to contact you directly to try and find out when you called and who you spoke to as we can listen to and monitor all calls. I could have pulled the call and spoken to the member of staff who had been hostile to you and how you had spoken to them. There is always an option open to you to register elsewhere or take out Private Medical Cover. I don't want any patient to do this - I still believe 100% in the NHS and have devoted my working life to it and the patients for the last 33yrs. I truly believe we do our best and I apologise from the bottom of my heart when we get it wrong. If you would like to contact me directly at the surgery, please do and I will do my best to help you and support my staff at the same time. Kind regards, Helen Knipe
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Review titled Spring Booster Jab
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Frank J Rawlings - Posted on 24 April 2023
Once again many thanks to all involved in the Booster jab in the Village hall, you even picked a sunny day. Went like clockwork.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 25 April 2023
Mr Rawlings - thank you very much for taking the time to post this review. Although you may only see a dozen or so staff members working at these clinics, it really is a team effort so I have shared your review with everyone. Thank you again. It means so much when people appreciate the work we do. Lets hope Covid-19 is a thing of the past very soon. Best wishes, Helen Knipe
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Review titled Appallingly Managed
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 June 2023
Firstly the Medical Staff are wonderful when you get to see them. The way the practice is managed however is utterly appalling and they appear to try to make everything as difficult as possible and blame everyone and everything other than themselves. Hardly any appointments are offered online, so everyone calls and is very difficult to get through, maybe putting more appointments online would free up the phones? Our son needed antibiotics for a routine aliment after being diagnosed by a Pharmacist - response from the Practice go to Accident and Emergency. My pregnant wife got told it was told by the reception staff that they couldn’t give two vaccines together so to go to their clinic for one of them. No appointments left in the clinic so told to call 111. Most GPs give both together. My address was incorrect with another nhs provider, so this Practice attempted to deregister me twice without a call or email to check, first time excusable, second time less so. The standard response from the Practice to any complaints is effectively ‘it’s not our fault’. We have now used a private gp on several occasions for our son after being ‘diagnosed’ as not needing medical attention by a receptionist. On each occasion our son did need to see a gp. The previous gp I was with in Central Reading, managed to deal with all the same problems with courtesy, innovation, technology and a can-do attitude. They too had not enough gps too many patients etc. Just being polite, helpful and embracing technology would be a good start. Hopefully the Medical Staff will take the steps needed to improve the management side.
Visited March 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 06 June 2023
Thank you for leaving this feedback. We aim to share and learn from all feedback, whether negative or positive. You have raised several points in your email that I (as Practice Manager) would like the opportunity to review and manage however you don't appear to have left you name or any identifier that I can contact you directly? I cannot address any points you have raised with regard to your wife or son however if you would like to email in to the main practice email account, I would be very happy to look into things to see how best I can help you. Regards, Helen swallowfield.reception@nhs.net
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Review titled Lovely Paramedic
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Fab B - Posted on 08 February 2023
I was seen by a paramedic for a last minute appointment and she was so lovely. The energy, kindness and understanding took me back slightly as she really shone above and beyond the normal treatment at the doctors.
Visited February 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 09 February 2023
Thank you very much for taking the time to leave this glowing feedback for our paramedic Sarah. I am grateful to you for leaving such kind words, as I know the staff all appreciate this when it happens - it's a wonderful morale booster for everyone concerned. We are very lucky to have great staff working here: I am fortunate to be working with them all. Thank you again for this feedback. Helen
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Review titled Shocked!
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Lynn Grant - Posted on 06 January 2023
I'm still in shock, I've never ever been spoken to so abrasively as I was today by the receptionist.. I booked in a redo of a blood test at the Drs request, I asked the receptionist if she could remind me if this, was a fasting blood test, she said " I don't know" and before I could say don't worry she then said in a very aggressive defensive manner "how would I know Im the receptionist... Shame really, makes the practice look bad when they have staff like that...
Visited January 2023
Review titled Swallowfield Medical Practice
Replied on 08 January 2023
Thank you for taking the time to leave this feedback. We appreciate and try to learn from all feedback, whether negative or positive. We cannot fix things if we do not know they are broken. I am truly sorry you have had this experience. I will be looking into this further and I will feed back to you (on a personal level) with an update and plan of action. Thank you again for taking the time to leave this review. Helen