Practice Plus Group
Hawker House, 5-6 Napier Court, Napier Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 8BWPatient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled The best and the worst
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 28 November 2022
I called 111 due to severe back pain that wasn’t improving. The first time they were amazing and booked me an out-of-hours appointment to see a Dr who prescribed me two kinds of strong pain relief. I ended up calling again that same night, however, when one of the meds didn’t work at all and I became very nauseous and panicky. Again, they helpfully agreed to put me on a waiting list for a call from a clinician. The next morning someone else called me and prescribed me an alternative medication. This new combination definitely helped me manage the pain better over the next 3 days but it didn’t fix the underlying injury/issue (the pain was still there and returned with a vengeance whenever the medication started to wear off). One of the medications was only prescribed for 3 days due to risk of dependence but on the third day I tried to contact my GP to request a few more tablets as the pain was not gone and I was supposed to travel abroad the next day. I was just very scared about being in another country without adequate pain relief and not knowing what to do. I tried to get through to my GP on 4 separate occasions but every time I got closer in the queue (after long periods of time) I had to hang up because I was at work (I work in iapt triage). After I finally got through I was told nobody could call me back that day/night so, as a last resort, I tried 111 again for help. This time I did not have a positive experience. The man I spoke to was brusque from the outset but became angry and aggressive when, at one point, I spoke over him (I truly was not trying to be rude or disrespectful - he had misunderstood something I said and I was trying to clarify to save us both some time. I was also anxious and generally speaking a bit fast/feeling a little chaotic). I know first-hand how difficult it can be to do triage-assessments over the phone but his anger really took me by surprise and I felt awful and confused/ashamed. He then said that because my symptoms weren’t new or worsening I was only requesting more medication ‘just in case’ and told me to ‘just try and enjoy my holiday or get help abroad if I needed it’. I couldn’t seem to get across that I didn’t want the medication as a backup plan but because it was one of the only things that was helping me keep on top of the (very much still ongoing) pain. I felt invalidated and defeated and overwhelmed. Basically the message this time was that I was wasting their time and they would not help until I was, once again, in severe pain. This is the first time I have used 111 in my life and the first two calls could not have been more different to the final call. I am so relieved and grateful that the first two people I spoke to were kind, patient and understanding but still reeling a bit from the last call. Honestly, I understand that protocol, policy and bureaucracy are not personal but this last responder made me feel like an entitled brat and a burden when I was just scared and in pain.
Visited November 2022
Practice Plus Group has not yet replied.
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Review titled No call back at all
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 27 November 2022
First time ever phoning 111, being pregnant and already suffering from flu for 3 days I started to feel a lot worse. Called at 10pm I was told a clinician would be required to call me back within 2 hours. Waited but nothing. Another call handler then phoned me at 3:30am just to ask about my symptoms again and told me a clinician will call me soon. 18 hours later still no phone call. I feel really disappointed and find it quite unbelievable that this service is able to run this way. People are just waiting for help and being left, when clearly there’s no intention of anyone phoning them back!
Visited November 2022
Practice Plus Group has not yet replied.
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Review titled very bad
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 19 November 2022
my husband got a tooth infection on friday, in the evening I ran 111 for advice, they gave us a number to phone next day in saturday, after ringing that number several times with no success in answering the phon, we rang again 111 they told us the same, my husband was getting worse and worse with a swollen face going to his eye, they gave us another two numbers to ring but they didn't picked up the phone and the answering machine was saying that was too busy to answer the phone. rang 111 again each time for them to answer took around 30 minutes, their only answer was take ibuprofen which clearly he got a huge big painful infection. I can't understand if we pay nhs taxes how this can happen they should provide a good care for us,it's extremely worried the poor service that all uk citizens are receiving.
Visited November 2022
Practice Plus Group has not yet replied.
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Review titled Waste of taxpayers money
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 19 November 2022
This service should be shut down and save the nhs some money. Literally not fit for purpose. Called this morning about daughters eye infection which she has suffered with on and off since birth. She is 9 months old. Got an appointment for 3pm fantastic!!! Only to be given the wrong location no where near where the appointment was booked. So rang again whilst in the car park of the wrong location. Very helpful lady said it would be red flagged and an urgent call for antibiotics off a doctor. 3 hours later I get a call from a uncompassionate nurse. Going through the same information I had already been through twice. I was told a doctor would call me back. I questioned the lady as I thought that's what I had been expecting for her to tell me I must have misunderstood in a very condescending way. That lady should definitely not be a nurse. So she said an urgent call would come from the doctor with in 1 hour. 2 hours later still nothing. So altogether 8.5 hours waiting and still no antibiotics. This service must be a huge drain on nhs resources filled with very incompetent staff. Should have just gone to A and E would have been sorted now. And this service is suppose to elevate the strain on the A and E department what a shambles.
Visited November 2022
Practice Plus Group has not yet replied.
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Review titled Horrible service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 26 November 2022
I was told I would get a callback within 2 hours at 2pm. Iv been waiting all day and no call back. I called back and they said I’m on the list. It’s 11pm and still no callback.
Visited November 2022
Practice Plus Group has not yet replied.