King Cross Practice Healthwatch Calderdale

Difficult to get through

November 20, 2023

It is still extremely difficult to get through by phone to the practice, and one can only get a telephone appointment, if you call at 8 a.m. or 1.30 pm. A telephone appt. wastes the patient and the doctor's time if an examination or test, e.g. urine test is needed. One can never see the same doctor twice, so there is no holistic knowledge of the patients.

BH

Reply from King Cross Practice

Thank you for leaving feedback for the Practice.

We appreciate that it can be difficult to contact the Practice and over the last 12 months have worked hard to make improvements to our phone lines, including introducing a call-back system on the phones. Despite these improvements we do see a significant number of patients contacting us during busy periods at the Practice and are continuing to look to improve our call wait times.

We do also offer alternative routes of contact, including PATCHs messaging available on our website, or patients can visit the Practice reception desk for help with enquiries.

Currently we do offer all patients who contact for an urgent/routine consultation signposting to appropriate services (such as pharmacies/opticians/physio/mental health support/podiatrists) or book telephone consultations for them, this enables our GPs to take thorough history and the GP will then bring patients in for face to face consultation if deemed clinically appropriate. We do however offer some direct face to face appointments for foot issues, musculoskeletal/physio related issues, for mental health support, babies 6 week checks, joint injections, and a large range of nurse related appointments. These appointments are booked with a range of clinicians.

It is very difficult to get the balance between face to face booking and telephone right. With the current model we are running many patients appreciate the benefit of being able to have a telephone consultation on the day and have their issue resolved without needing to visit the Practice, while those who need to be seen are brought into Practice. We have seen a significant reduction in the number of appointments which are not attended by patients (DNAs) which in return means we have more appointments available for our patient population.

However we are constantly trying to improve our processes and are currently reviewing our booking processes to enable more appointment to be booked face to face directly, if clinically required.

We advise patients that they are able to request ongoing consultation with a particular GP if they wish, however if they may need to wait for the next routine appointment with said GP. If the complaint is of an urgent nature we will offer an appointment with next available clinician, which may include Physicians Associates, Advanced Practitioners or GPs. We have had a period of GP sickness/maternity over the last two months, which may have meant that usual GPs were not available, however we now have most GPs available for booking.

Once again, thank you for feeding back to the Practice and I hope the information above provides some clarity regarding the situation.

Good with appointments for children

August 15, 2023

Had to take both kids over the last 6 months and they have been good with them, same day appointments, not much waiting around and good advice/support both times. I needed medication for one; the other was reassuring there wasn't something worse. It's hard to know with children if they are in actual pain so felt I had peace of mind after seeing GPs here.

Anonymous

Efficient service

August 15, 2023

I've had to use the GP a few times this year after years of never going. I have felt they have taken me seriously, responded well time-wise - it wasn't urgent but needed to see someone and they recognised this.
I felt the GP was lovely and listened well and didn't feel rushed even though the waiting room was busy.
I had to be referred for tests outside of the practice and I felt I left knowing what to expect. It was slower from the hospital side but that's not a reflection of the GP.
I tend to try self-manage but knew I needed some answers and I got them.

Anonymous

Reply from King Cross Practice

Thank you for this positive feedback on your experience of the service. The Practice strives to provide high quality healthcare to all patients.

I will share this feedback with our team.

Happy with outcome

June 28, 2023

I have a learning disability. I am happy with how I am treated here and they talk to me as well as my parent/carer. I am happy with the outcome of all my appointments.

Anonymous

Reply from King Cross Practice

Thank you for your positive feedback of our services at King Cross Surgery.

Struggle to get through via the phone

November 22, 2022

After struggling and ringing 15 times in one day, eventually got a telephone appointment, GP was very helpful but I had to ring the surgery back to book an appointment for bloods. After ringing several times again decided to go into surgery to book appointment, was offered appointment at another surgery, this was fine. Two days later received a call from surgery to state that the GP wanted to book a routine call following the blood results, was offered 4 weeks down the line, I queried this but accepted it. However after still feeling quite unwell decided to call to see if I could get an "urgent" telephone appt on the day, several calls later, either call rings out or puts you in a queue then cuts off or when you ring again the call queue is full.
I understand there are issues with staffing etc but the extra stress of trying to call so many times does not help when you are already unwell.

Anonymous

Not as good as it used to be

June 23, 2022

I used to see the same doctor all the time and he was fantastic and used to really help me and explain things really well to me but since he left I just get to see whoever is available to me and it's just not the same and quality of care doesn't seem as good.
Appointments feel rushed.

Anonymous

Vaccination

February 16, 2021

Thankyou for letting him have his vaccine he is very vulnerable thankyou

Anonymous

All staff friendly, helpful & knowledgeable

May 3, 2020

We moved from a practice in London, both I and my husband are over 70 with various pre-existing conditions. We have been very happy with all aspects of King Cross Practice - friendly and helpful receptionists, caring and knowledgeable medical team, also relatively easy to get an appointment.

Sandra B.

Really good practice

April 26, 2017

I have been with the practice for years.
The staff are friendly and helpful and will fit you in with the doctors.

Sandra Wroe

Consistently excellent service

July 28, 2016

From the receptionists to the practice nurses, to the GPs over 10 years I have always have a really good experience making an appointment and in consultation. A very human interaction that others in the health service might do well to learn from.

vicky

King Cross Practice