Todmorden Group Practice

Not enough medical practitioners or appointments. Appointment system not fit for purpose. Telephone system not fit for purpose. Online booking system not fit for purpose. Poor signposting to allow appointments to be used more appropriately.
The triage, appointment system and management of communications are dangerous.

Very hard to get an appointment

The telephone appointment system does not work properly. I called from 7:55 till 8:30 to make an appointment for my daughter. Since 8 o’clock it said the system was busy, then after calling a few times repeatedly I went into a queue system but was kicked out of the queue every 10 min and had to start the call again. I tried Friday, Monday and Tuesday and was unable to make an appointment.
It is not the fist time that this happens, it have take me up to 5 days calling every day to make appointments in the pass.
You can’t go into the building.
I think it is dangerous, if somebody is very ill and can’t get through.
When they finally answered the suggested that I take my daughter to the urgent health unit in Burnley, but it was not an emergency, she just needs to see a GP.
This problem has been going on for more than a year now. They were blaming it on Covid before, but what is the excuse now.

The telephone service is not fit for purpose. Being on hold for 30 mins is not uncommon. Patients reliant on contact by phone, particularly the elderly cannot access the practice so give up. The lines may be quieter in the afternoon but by then all the appointments are booked. There is no facility to book an appointment in advance. Patients appear to be an inconvenience. This has been an issue for years, is getting worse and nothing ever gets any nearer to a solution

I have a long term chronic health condition. I have lived in Todmorden for over 3 years, before the pandemic, and have always struggled to get an appointment. The system is broken. Appointments only available on the day do not work, especially if you have to work and have a long term on going illness that needs a lot of care! I needs dates that I can reliably take off work.
I am currently pregnant and need the extra support, considering my long term illness and the effect it may have on the baby and have not once been able to see a dr face to face. My mental health has certainly deteriorated because of this. Where is the support? Something desperately needs to change. And I am not the only one, everyone I speak to in the town has had awful experiences of Tod GP.

My mother suffers with COPD has bernnunable to get an appointment for over 1 month. We call at 8am, on hold for 1 hr to then be told no appointments available

The Reception staff and the nursing staff are excellent, once you get to see them. However, getting an appointment is ridiculously difficult.
One is palmed off with a phone appointment, if one gets through at all, which is useless when it concerns a complaint that need to be actually examined by a doctor. It's certainly useless when the doctor you do speak to assures you they will put in a hospital referral, and then simply fails to do so. And even if they had managed to remember to do it, this is still a waste of resources - it's kicking the can down the road, incurring extra expense for the NHS when a straightforward GP appointment (in real life) would have obviated the need anyway.
The appointment situation is not a result of Covid, since these issues seem not to obtain in other nearby locations served by other practices.
This is in no way a complaint about the staff at the Health Centre - it's about the way the Centre itself is managed.

Can’t get through on the phone, can’t prebook as never any appointments free, terrible hold music only to be cut off 45 mins later. Can’t even get in the building to see anyone. No face to face being offered yet!

It is almost impossible to get through to a member of staff, being on “hold” for up to an hour, following multiple efforts and calling for days just to still not be able to speak to or visit a GP in the end no matter the urgency. They do not accept pre booked appointments. I have had to attend urgent care on many occasions after failing to receive care from the doctors. Medical needs are being ignored and overlooked the current service is shocking from the practice. I have also found some of the reception staff to be unhelpful. The staff in the pharmacy however are lovely and helpful for any prescription needs, although wait times can be long.

It is so difficult to get through to reception in the phone.
I have walked there to speak to someone but then they don't want to open the doors without appointment.
They just need more staff and probably funds