Sydenham Green Group Practice
26 Holmshaw Close, Sydenham, London, Greater London, SE26 4THContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Impossible to book an appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Mariana M da S Castro - Posted on 03 March 2023
I am with this GP for 7 months and the book appointment procedure got impossible. I am treating for very serious conditions and trying for months to book an appointment with the doctor as I am always informed by the receptionist that the doctor wants to do a review before repeating my prescription. I take my treatments vey seriously but is been impossible to book an app with the doctor either by phone or app. When you call the practice at 8:00 ,the queue is horribly long, 40,50 people and you stay hours them your call is always ended with no appointment booked. On the app the same. You never find an appointment with the GP. They forward you to 111 that doesn’t sorted out your problem, just give emergency medication. This need to change asap for people to be able to get help they deserve. I am not asking to book an appointment for the same day. Can be forward, even for the next month. But you have to be able to book an appointment. The way is doing now , is impossible to keep your medical conditions under control as you are always with no medication. Please, we need help!
Visited March 2023
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 09 March 2023
Dear Mariana, thank you for taking the time to comment on our practice. I appreciate the issues with getting appointments; we are working to increase the size of the clinical team to improve what we can offer to patients but we are aware that it is a struggle. If you would like to discuss further, please contact either Pamella Greaves (deputy practice manager) or Ed Hillan (practice manager) at LEWCCG.sggp@nhs.net to discuss. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Impossible to get an appointment, and incorrect advice given
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 30 March 2023
I had been unable to book an appointment for a smear test, trying every now and then, regularly reminded by texts from Sydenham Group Practice to do so. I tried phoning many times - 30 to 50 minutes waiting time on the phone, listening to a repeated message saying it was easy to book ‘exclusive’ appointments (what other kind are there?) via the Ask First Ap. I tried the Ap, which tells you when you use it that Sydenham Group Practice does not offer nurse’s appointments via this portal. I tried via Patient Access (which appears below the words “book an appointment” on the surgery's website). I saw a message saying I had reached a permissible limit on making appointments this way, despite not having made one for at least two years. At the same time, I contacted the front desk using their on line form enquiring how I could get my repeat prescription, as this had vanished from Patient Access, and was told by text from the Assistant Practice Manager that I needed to make an appointment for a medication review. I replied “how”, given the problems experienced? I received no reply. Contacting the same person a few days later, telling her I had had no success with phoning or using the Ask First Ap, I was told to “try signing out and in again”. Of course, I had already done that multiple times, even trying in the middle of the night to see if it made any difference and trying out different permutations in the tick box answers required. Do you want advice/ treatment/referral/other? It made no difference, there are never any appointments. I called again on 24th March and got to number one in the queue – then the phone rang and rang and no-one answered. I emailed the Practice Manager – no reply yet, six days later. Eventually today, I got through, using two telephones simultaneously. When I explained the difficulty I had had, the receptionist told me that Sydenham Green Group Practice is not offering any appointment bookings on Patient Access, but the receptionist could not explain why the website invites you to do so. She also said that it is not possible to make an appointment for a medication review via the Ask First Ap, yet I had been instructed to do that by the Assistant Manager. The doctors – if you get to see one – are good. But the management of this surgery has been baleful for a long time but it is simply beyond a joke now. And yet they are looking to take on more patients!
Visited March 2023
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 20 July 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for taking the time to comment on our practice. I understand the concerns you have raised, especially around the inconsistent messaging. We are working to change the ways in which we use apps and internet booking to make it simpler for patients with the aim of improving the whole patient experience and increasing access to appointments. This should be in place in the coming months. In regard to your final point, we are not given a choice as to whether we take on more patients; the NHS will not allow us to refuse registration to patients living within the practice area. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Unhelpful GP service
by march9th - Posted on 20 March 2023
My husband recently had his gall bladder removed in Abu Dhabi (amazing treatment). Last week he had a pancreatitis recurrence and was hospitalized in Basingstoke ( pretty good treatment here). They asked for him to get repeat blood tests on Monday at home. We got a face to face appointment on the Monday. You need your blood pressure taken they said - we don't do that her, go to a pharmacy. So a gp has no equipment with which to spend a minute taking a blood pressure? What if the pharmacy said it was not good? Go and see your GP.... Utter nonsense. We don't sort blood test here - go home and log in. Which we did and booked it at the same practice for Friday - a whole eek after the hospital requested it. More nonsense. What if we had no internet or laptop? No wonder there is disquiet about the nhs. These sort of things are just rubbish. The phone line is no better giving info that is clearly out of date - eg your appointment will be only via telephone. Seriously not good enough.
Visited March 2023
Provided by Care opinion
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 20 July 2023
Dear March9th Thank you for taking the time to comment on our practice. I understand your frustration with the services offered. We are working to improve the phone but part of the way in which we are reducing pressure is by ensuring that care is being provided at the appropriate place; in many cases that means that pharmacies and other clinics are used. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Friendly and reassuring
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 01 February 2023
I spent the expected long time waiting to get through this morning, the receptionist was helpful and polite and even though there were no appointments she reassured me that I’d get a call back- which I did. The person who called me back was thorough and was able to make an appointment with the duty doctor. He was understanding and patient with my four year old son. Thank you Sydenham Green Group Practice
Visited February 2023
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 08 February 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for taking the time to comment on our Practice. I apologise for your difficulties in getting through to us and in getting appointments but I am reassured that the duty system worked and your son was taken care of. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Frustrating booking system
by augustxe89 - Posted on 14 February 2023
I joined the queue for an appointment for my daughter at 8:00am. I was told after a lengthy recorded message I was no. 36 in queue. After 1 hour and 8 minutes my call was answered to be told there were no appointments and to call 111 or go to urgent care centre. I was very disappointed to hear this and asked how many operators were answering calls; I was told 4 and that operator was not able to comment on any information regarding how long calls took to answer. Your recorded message is still telling callers that Sydenham Green is not offering face to face appointments. Why can’t the recorded message change once all appointments are taken to save time for callers? So frustrating to wait to hear no appointments when you have a sick child
Visited February 2023
Provided by Care opinion
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 09 March 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for taking the time to comment on our Practice. I understand your frustrations with the appointments and please be assured that we are working on a number of ways to improve the situation. Thank you for bringing the issue with the phone message to our attention; I will look into this now. Regarding your particular concerns, please contact either Pamella Greaves (deputy practice manager) or Ed Hillan (practice manager) at LEWCCG.sggp@nhs.net to discuss. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Not user friendly.
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Kate - Posted on 30 January 2023
I have been trying to book appointments for the last year now to reduce my medication and I cannot get through. I finally got through to somebody for them to tell me that they don’t book appointments at any other time then 8 o’clock in the morning or through the app, both of which I have been unsuccessful with. I think this needs to be looked into as I have been taking medication for longer than I have wanted to because I cannot get through to somebody to reduce it.
Visited January 2023
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 08 February 2023
Dear Kate, thank you for taking the time to comment on our Practice. I understand your frustrations with the appointments and please be assured that we are working on a number of ways to improve the situation. Regarding your particular concerns, please contact either Pamella Greaves (deputy practice manager) or Ed Hillan (practice manager) at LEWCCG.sggp@nhs.net to discuss. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Appointments require stamina or tech savvy
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 17 November 2022
Having been asked to make an appointment, it seems I must phone each morning to wait 30 - 45 minutes in a queue to be advised that no appointments are left. I must stress I have never encountered rudeness from the staff who are dealing with an impossible situation and I try to manage my own frustration after listening to the repeat announcements grating my nerves. An attempt to connect through the Ask First App resulted in being advised that I had to phone the Surgery. I have been with this Surgery since its inception and previously encountered none of these problems and all staff went out of their way to be helpful. The pandemic, grouping of Practices and the changing regulations on how services are to be delivered, have adversely affected this Surgery's ability to meet the needs of its growing patient list. I hope the 'normal service' can be restored but presently I feel unable to access reasonable medical care here.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 08 February 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for taking the time to comment on our practice. I understand your difficulties with the appointment system and we are making efforts to improve this situation by changing ways in which we work and aiming to add extra clinicians to the team. I do stress that we do not have a growing patient list; we have an increasing workload from our existing list. I apologise for the difficulties you are experiencing and I hope to return to the level of service you have been used to. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Telephone Appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Rita Johnson - Posted on 01 December 2022
Following a text message asking me to make an appointment with a doctor, I tried for three consecutive days to make this appointment. I rang at 8 am each day and, by the time I got through, all appointments had gone. There is obviously a problem with the ratio of doctors to patients and yet the website is saying they are willing to take on more patients.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 08 February 2023
Dear Rita Johnson, thank you for taking the time to comment on our practice. I apologise for the difficulties you are having in making appointments; we are attempting new ways to work to reduce the number of patients being sent these messages and instead arranging for the doctor to contact them directly. As a practice, we are bound by NHS England rules which forbid us from closing to new patients. Additionally, our ratio of doctors to patients is not very different to our historic ratio; however, demand from existing patients is increasing and we are having to find ways to meet this demand. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled What is being done?
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Practice Patient - Posted on 26 October 2022
After having experienced - again - being spoken to very rudely by one of the receptionists I would like to agree with the other patients who have highlighted in their reviews the fact that they have been spoken to in an unacceptable manner by a member of the reception team. I don't normally write reviews, but have decided to do so as I have been so taken aback by a couple of my interactions with a practice staff member. To be clear, by 'unacceptable' and 'rudely', I do not mean that the receptionist has been unable to resolve an issue to my liking, but that the tone of voice, choice of words, and general attitude, was not all what you would expect from anyone dealing with members of the public, let alone a professional medical receptionist. I accept that we all have 'bad days', and I am sure that the reception staff are under pressure and have to deal with some difficult situations. However, it is very apparent that at least one of the reception staff's ability to deal courteously with patients is, at present, sadly lacking. I have experienced this myself on more than one occasion, and also witnessed this in the surgery. I don't know if patient calls are randomly monitored by the surgery - as they are in many organisations - 'for training purposes', if they aren't , I would suggest that they really should be. I wonder what the surgery is doing to resolve the two issues that arise repeatedly on this site ie a) the tremendous challenge faced by patients in trying to get an appointment - I have been trying to arrange one for some time now without any success. It really is very stressful. The situation does not seem to be improving in any way. and b) the manner in which patients may find themselves spoken to once they manage to get through to the surgery. Finally, to ensure fairness in my review, I would like to highlight the fact that one member of the reception team is unfailingly helpful and friendly, and that I find other interactions with reception staff to be perfectly civil.
Visited October 2022
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 08 February 2023
Dear Practice Patient, thank you for taking the time to comment on our Practice. We do understand that it can be difficult to get appointments at the practice and we are working to try and expand the clinical team, as well as offering other ways to be seen including online and telephone appointments. Regarding your concerns with reception, please contact either Pamella Greaves (Deputy Practice Manager) or Ed Hillan (practice Manager) at the surgery to discuss this further so we can investiagate. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager
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Review titled Very difficult to get an appointment
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 06 October 2022
I phoned the surgery at 8 a.m. and got the 'line engaged' tone which cut out after a minute - line dead. I kept trying to phone but same result time after time. Finally got through to be told I was 'caller number 38 in the queue' which means no hope of getting an appointment of any kind. I have COPD and my lung health is getting worse, but making contact with the surgery to get it looked at before it's serious enough for a trip to A&E feels impossible. I tried the app several times as well, but no luck there either. Only alternative is to queue outside for half an hour or more until the surgery opens, regardless of the weather. Standing around in cold winter weather with a serious lung condition only stands to make things worse. At the very least, ditching the 'same day only' appointment system has to be a consideration, surely?
Visited October 2022
Review titled Sydenham Green Group Practice
Replied on 08 February 2023
Dear Patient, thank you for taking the time to comment on our Practice. I apologise for the difficulties you are having with making appointments. We are working to make this better, including recently recruiting a new lead nurse for respiratory conditions, and I hope this will improve things in the near future. We do offer a considerable number of appointments on the day and for some time in the future, however they can fill up purely because of patient demand so there are often times when there are none available. Again, we are trying to increase the size of the clinical team to improve this. Yours, Ed Hillan Practice Manager