The Portmill Surgery
114 Queen Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG4 9THContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled Disappointed
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 10 July 2024
Trying to get a Doctors appointment for my son who is autistic and undergoing cancer treatment with the Doctor who has dealt with my son during this horrible time is impossible. The Doctor is question is brilliant and my son, due to his problems, needs continuity. Most receptionist’s are great but alas not all.
Visited July 2024
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 10 July 2024
Hi, I'm sorry to hear you have found it difficult to get an appointment with a specified GP for your son. If you would like me to look into this, please contact the surgery with your details, either through the website, in person or by letter, for the attention of the Practice Manager and I will be able to look into this for you. Kind regards, Lindsey Wright Practice Manager
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Review titled Excellent
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Victoria Lines - Posted on 15 May 2024
Following a series of difficult situations I had an appointment with the doctor. She was a great help to me and helped me get back on track. She also accommodated to me being autistic by giving me some extra time to make sure I had time to process and understand everything I needed. This gave me great reassurance. Thank you
Visited May 2024
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 16 May 2024
Dear Victoria Lines Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a lovely review for our surgery. We always do our best to provide an excellent service and it's really good for staff morale when this is recognised! I am especially glad to hear that reasonable adjustments were made for you and that you found this helpful. I will pass your comments onto the team! Thank you once again Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Great doctors, terrible service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 23 April 2024
I always feel like the GPs understand my symptoms, take them seriously and give the correct solutions. However, getting an appointment has become more difficult than ever. Somehow, they are still accepting new patients when they clearly can't treat the ones they already have properly. Waiting over 2 weeks for a pre-bookable appointment and then another 2.5 weeks for a blood test is unacceptable.
Visited April 2024
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 29 April 2024
Dear patient Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I am sorry that, although you felt the GPs understand your symptoms, take you seriously and give the correct solutions, overall you still considered this to be a one star service. We are obliged to accept new patients. GPs have to apply to close their lists, which is only allowed in exceptional circumstance. We do not meet these criteria. At the time of writing, our next available pre-bookable appointment is in a week. Sometimes the wait may be longer if you wish to see a specific doctor on a particular day or time. I note that the current wait for a first hospital outpatient appointment is up to a year in many cases, reflecting the general pressure on the NHS. I agree that a wait of 2.5 weeks for a blood tests is not ideal and we have raised this issue with the local hospital as they provide the community service. Unfortunately, we have no control over it. You may find an earlier appointment if you book online via SwiftQueue and go to the Lister. If you wish to complain about the blood service availability, please contact the patient liaison service: pals.enh-tr@nhs.net We strive to offer a first class service and I am sorry that on this occasion we fell short of your expectations. I will, however, pass on your positive feedback to out GPs. If you wish to discuss your situation in more detail, please do contact the practice directly. Kind regards Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Excellent receptionist
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 26 January 2024
Very helpful and sympathetic when sorting out my problem with a prescription. It had been issued by a dentist and needed urgently, but pharmacy could not prescribe it as it was not on the correct form. It had to be on a NHS form so needed to go to my surgery.
Visited January 2024
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 30 January 2024
Dear Anonymous Thank you for taking the time to leave a lovely, positive review on NHS Choices. I am delighted to hear that you found a member of our reception team to be helpful and sympathetic. We do strive to achieve this at all times. There are occasions when we can't help with dental issues, but I'm glad that in this instance we were able to. Thank you once again for your feedback. Kind regards Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Nurses went out of their way to help me
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 15 October 2023
I went in for a flu jab, the nurses administering the jabs saw I had a wound on my knee that needed dressing and dealt with it. I really appreciate them making the time to look after me on what was a busy day for them. Thank you
Visited October 2023
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 16 October 2023
Dear patient Thank you for leaving this lovely comment for our nurses. It's great that we have such a caring team and I'm glad they were able to help with your wound. I'll pass your thanks on to the relevant staff. Kind regards Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Seeing a GP
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 13 July 2023
I called portmill to see if I could see a GP. I have to make a request online.If they think I need an appointment they will let me see someone. I have so many problems I don't know where to start. So it looks like I'm getting no help at all. Not helpful
Visited July 2023
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 18 July 2023
Dear patient, I am very sorry to hear about your experience of trying to book an appointment at Portmill Surgery. All GP surgeries are being asked by the NHS to offer phone, in person and digital access to all patients, which is what we offer here at Portmill Surgery. We do not insist that patients contact us in any particular way, but in the way that suits them best and is most appropriate. We tailor our appointments, as best we can, to demand and between the 3 main types of appointment, face to face, phone and e-consultations. Once all the phone and face to face appointments have gone for the day, it may be that there is some availability left for e-consultations and that may have been why the receptionist recommended it. E-consultations are great for almost all non-urgent issues or queries, but they do not deal well with multiple issue queries. This is usually not a problem as it is unlikely the GP will consult on multiple issues in one consultation. We have a safe limit on all appointment types each day which we do not exceed, which means you may not get an appointment on the day you request. Please feel free to contact the surgery if you wish to discuss your personal experience with us. Kind regards, Portmill Surgery
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Review titled Impossible to contact GPs
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 14 May 2023
I tried to make an appointment at 8am, 2pm and 8am the following day but was told there were no slots. I explained my symptoms to the receptionist and asked how I could urgently see a doctor and was told to see a pharmacist as no doctors were available for the next 2 weeks. I did an eConsult instead and was booked for an emergency ultrasound 4 days later. I then missed my GPs (unscheduled) call to urgently discuss the ultrasound results and called back only to be told it would be 10 days before a doctor was free to talk to me. The next day the hospital called to discuss my hysteroscopy and biopsy (booked in 4 days time) and were astounded I hadn't been able to talk to my GP. When you talk to a nurse or GP they are great but the receptionists are rude and aggressive. They triage for no reason, and with no knowledge, and never seem to have appointments either online or on the phone. I have no idea how to get appointments at this surgery. Nothing is considered serious enough to warrant an appointment.
Visited May 2023
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 17 May 2023
Dear patient I am very sorry to hear about your experience of trying to book an appointment at Portmill Surgery. I would like to look into your case in more detail and should be grateful if you could send a "Contact Us" form via our website, addressed to me, so that I can review your records. In general, demand is very high and sometimes we do not have as much capacity as we would like. I am glad that you were able to use eConsult, which can have a valuable role in triage. Our reception team do their best to accommodate patient needs and it is a very challenging role. I am sorry that you have found them to be rude and aggressive, which is out of keeping with most of our recent patient feedback. We do have a phone system which allows us to listen back to calls so again, if you could contact me directly, I can review the calls and speak to the relevant staff about any concerns regarding their manner. Kind regards Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Poor communication
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 16 March 2023
Lack of good, efficient communication. Put aside the difficulties with booking an appointment, trying to send back test results and follow up questions is appalling. The website is not fit for purpose
Visited March 2023
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 20 March 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback about the surgery. I am sorry to hear that you have found our communication poor. We do have a new website which goes live next week and I hope that you will find that more fit for purpose. However, although we do sometimes ask for information (for example, blood pressure readings) and may text patients a link so that a reply can be sent, generally we do not encourage communication about follow up to results via electronic messages. It is often difficult to adequately explain things this way and we prefer to speak directly to patients who have questions about their results. I am sorry that you have found it difficult to book an appointment. If you have registered for online access, you can book online. You may also wish to try eConsult, which you can access via the website. If you have specific issues which you would like us to address, please do not hesitate to contact the practice directly. Kind regards Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Great Practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 March 2023
Dear Portmill Surgery i happen to come in for an appointment with a clinician and the clinician asked me to come down stairs to book an appointment. In the queue . the Line was a bit long but i know that not their fault . Upon talking to the receptionist she was lovely handled my query amazingly Do Recommend This GP Surgery
Visited February 2023
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 02 March 2023
Dear patient Thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback. I'm sorry that the line was a little long and thank you for your patience. We have just recruited two more members to our reception team and hope that this will improve patient experience. I am so glad to hear that your query was handled well by my reception colleague and that you'd recommend our surgery. It's always really great for team morale to have positive feedback and I'll ensure that this is passed on! Very best wishes Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner
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Review titled Great Practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 01 June 2023
Brilliant GP Practice Receptionist's are amazing , Helpful , Understanding . Doctors are also brilliant
Visited January 2023
Review titled The Portmill Surgery
Replied on 05 June 2023
Dear patient Thank you very much for taking the time to leave such lovely feedback for our team. It means such a lot to the staff and really helps morale at what is a very difficult time for the whole NHS. I will ensure that your comments are shared with my colleagues and also added to our compliments register! With very best wishes Dr Tara Belcher Managing Partner