Dulwich Medical Centre - Any good?

[LadyDeliah]

Better than it used to be and they've got a tall Polish guy on reception with a pretty nice arse, so something to occupy your mind whilst waiting to see the doctor/nurse/pharmacist.

Vast improvement.

[Zebedee Tring]

I'm afraid that guys with nice arses, whether tall, Polish or otherwise aren't my thing, as they probably aren't for other males of the heterosexual persuasion. So not much of compensation for a large number of DMC patients.

[LadyDeliah]

Cheered me up anyway.

[Jeremy]

I'm all for redressing the balance etc. But I wonder what the reaction would be if I started posting about the bums of female receptionists or shop assistants?

Maybe I should try!

[Zebedee Tring]

Quite.

[LadyDeliah]

You're both just jealous because your bums aren't as pert as the Polish receptionist's.

[Loopylil]

I have a friend who is registered at DMC and has nothing good to say about them. I am registered at the Nunhead Surgery and have only good things to say about them. The GPs listen and take note. Even on busy days they never rush the appointment and the staff are always friendly. It isn't difficult to get an appointment with your choice of Doctor and in an emergency you can get seen the same day by one of the Doctors. The telephone appointments are excellent if you just need advice or are not sure whether you need a face-to-face appointment. Highly recommended.

[Bic Basher]

I was at 306 this morning and I've never seen it so busy. I was seen 30 mins after my booked time and were fully booked until next Monday.

I have a feeling some ex DMC patients are now there too.

[aroyalaffair]

new to the forums but had to register after i overheard a female dr say 9 appointment slots had been rendered useless this morning after patients failed to turn up for 30 and 40 minute appointments! This is not a problem DMC can be blamed for, that's lazy patients forgetting they booked or not having the decency to call and cancel. Hope everyone with a sick baby got an appointment this morning!

[root]

Peckhampam Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Looking at ratings on NHS choices DMC gets one

> star out of 5 and has 138 ratings. The Gardens

> get 3. The only other surgery on that page which

> gets only one star is based on only 4 ratings. I

> think a lot of people are very upset.

I would not recommend the gardens to anyone. Rude and patronising reception. Was only with the practice for 48 hours and then transferred to another surgery. Can't comment on GPs as never got to see one. The nurse was nice though.

My NHS review:

http://www.nhs.uk/Services/GP/ReviewsAndRatings/DefaultView.aspx?id=38469&SortType=1#cmnt289097

[Penguin68]

but had to register after i overheard a female dr say 9 appointment slots had been rendered useless this morning after patients failed to turn up for 30 and 40 minute appointments! This is not a problem DMC can be blamed for, that's lazy patients forgetting they booked or not having the decency to call and cancel.

I am assuming that one or two patients missed these exceptionally long appointments, thus blocking the chance of booking in 9 ?normal duration? appointments. Such long appointments are very unusual, in my experience, except for minor surgery ? I don?t know whether DMC does this?

When I have had a procedure due in my surgery, I have been rung a little before to confirm my attendance.

If you can't readily get through to the surgery as the phones aren't being answered you may well not bother (having tried) to notify a cancellation, which would presumably require a visit? This seems, as reported to be the only way to get ?into? surgery bookings at times.

If forward appointments are really so hard to get (and where a long wait for a slot is likely) - it is quite likely that conditions have either cleared or have so worsened that A&E treatment becomes necessary. In either case 'missing' an appointment would not be that surprising. Many people are not so organised as to keep a mental schedule of appointments clear in their minds, particularly if the trigger has disappeared.

Considering patients for GPs can tend to be either ill, or elderly and confused, it is certainly in the best interests of the practice to take an effort to do some active attendance management - rather than blaming the customer.

[Mustard]

Wonder if they send out text reminders. Never heard of a 30 or 40 minuted appointment either, a double one, yes, but that is 20 minutes, I think.

[Jeremy]

DMC have started sending SMS reminders, yes.

Wonder if an automated SMS response would be practical/helpful?

[aroyalaffair]

In my experience I do get a text usually a day or so before each appointment, and they are either automated or the person sending them is exceptionally dry in their delivery. Might be worth asking next time you're in if you can be added to this system, as it might not be automatic for all new registrations. 30-40 minute appointments are probably reviews of some kind, diabetes, asthma, etc? or perhaps post natal exams with the high number of babies in the area? Contraception clincs maybe? Either way, seems a shame.

[Mustard]

I get a text about a week before, and then one either the day before or day of.

[Bic Basher]

Most surgeries will send a text message reminder at least two days before the appointment.

Speaking from my experience as I'm not a patient at DMC, doctors can request the patient is booked for at least a double appointment (back to back) if it requires more than the allocated 10 minute window to assess the patient.

[Sue]

The Patient Participation Group at DMC has just emailed round a three-part survey, which apparently is also available in paper form at the surgery.

Unfortunately it contains several questions which are impossible to fill in accurately - I'm guessing it was compiled by somebody unfamiliar with surveys.

For example, the question "What is the longest you have had to wait in the surgery after your appointment time?" only gives you the option to put in a whole number of hours - meaning that anything less than an hour cannot be given. You can't even put in 0.5 hours, because that isn't a whole number.

And you can't answer "varies" to questions such as "How many times do you usually telephone before getting through to the surgery?"

Another question assumes that you have not been able to get an appointment within two days, even if you have. You have to answer the question, and you can't submit the survey without answering it ......

So unfortunately, I'm not sure that all the information they will collect is going to be accurate, and is therefore not going to be useful :(

A pity, because a survey was an excellent idea to collect some statistical information about the apparent problem areas.

[muffins78]

I got it too and completed it. The only good thing is that you were able to say the doctors were good but the practice itself isn't.

Do they really have 12,000 patients, or was that a typo?

[Helen Chown]

DMC sent out its patient survey erroneously under my name, for which no doubt it is very sorry. It did not come from me or the Patient Participation Group. As chair of the PPG I am busting a gut trying to help them provide a better service on diminishing resources, so I was happy to add an encouraging note which has, I see, been edited.

I added some questions to the survey which have been formulated so badly that the answers will be almost useless. Practices are all supposed to send out an annual survey like this. Results are available nationally and are supposed to help service planning. Ha! DMC has demonstrated that this survey software is not foolproof!

As my email address was included in the mailing, I am doing my best to answer all your replies.

Yes, there are 12,000 patients. Practices are not allowed to close their lists. DMC CPR receives only 0.9 of the possible allowance per patient as East Dulwich is not seen as medically needy.

We are assured that there is a full complement of both clinical and admin staff for 12,000 patients. Patient feedback indicates that the doctors are almost always excellent but it is hard to get an appointment, leading to frustration, anger and often real distress. There are some very good administrators. The pharmacists are excellent. The nurses are too busy. District Nurses now come from Guy's and St Thomas's and don't always fit our visits in.

There will soon be a Community Psychiatric Nurse appointed. I hope the CPN will keep a few sessions available to overstretched staff....

The PPG is giving itself a year to September to see if we can do anything useful. If we can't we shall disband and allow DMC to carry on without us. It is possibly useful that we have averted the start of Telephone Triage, where GPs assess our needs on the phone, until practice telephone monitoring demonstrates conclusively that this is a reliable means of communication. GPs seem to feel that they are mostly likely, after phoning patients, to end up asking to see them anyway, so their workload could increase rather than lessening.

If you read the attachment, you will see that we are trying. Some of us are very trying. Helen Chown.

[Cora]

Helen I am incredibly grateful for your involvement and hard work to try and improve things at DMC....thank you.

[tfwsoll]

Thanks for the update, Helen. I got the survey and thought it wasn't put together very well but better than nothing. I've been with DMC since it opened and have been alarmed at how their reputation has gone downhill over the past year or so. I am hoping that they can get the phones and appointments working.

I have had to visit the surgery a few times over the past month and had two 30 minute slots - one for a medication review and one for the follow up visit. I've seen the pharmacist, a trainee doctor and a registered GP, all of whom listened to me, discussed my case and are following up on a couple of issues. I got an evening call from another doctor to discuss one of my test results. The reception staff have been really polite and helpful so I am satisfied with my treatment to date. I also know that I am lucky that I have been given follow up appointments and haven't faced the stress of trying to call the surgery for a same day appointment.

DMC do have a text reminder service and you can text back to cancel so there is no excuse for just missing an appointment if you have a mobile phone. You can also get through on the phones fairly quickly outside the peak 8 - 9 times.

I've chatted to a number of colleagues who live in London and the majority of them have similar tales of engaged phone lines and 4 week waits for appointments at their local GP surgeries. A number of them say that they just go into walk in clinics if they need to see someone the same day.

One thing that has improved is the ability to change local surgeries without any comeback. Time had it that you would be given the third degree if you asked to join a another surgery in the same catchment area. There was always an assumption that you were 'difficult' and I am sure there were cases where surgeries refused to register patients that did this.

[Syd's Girl]

The Gardens is the best one I think if you are close, I'm at DMC and its crap although the Lanes Midwifery is attached to DMC and they are great. As soon as I have had my baby I'm planning on moving to The Gardens if I can get in.

http://www.thegardenssurgery.co.uk/ I recently go asked to take part in the annual survey for DMC, if you are registered with DMC you should do the survey, it doesn't take long, but the more people who take part and voice how crap it is the better:

The Annual GP Patient Survey (Part 1): https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WFGPNPT

The Annual GP Patient Survey (Part 2): https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W37MC7P

The Annual GP Patient Survey (Part 3): https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VZJZ9XM

[Monkey]

Reading from Helen's notes: "they were surprised as they thought the phones were sorted." How many complaints and negative posts on both the ed forum but also the CPR website does it take for them to realise there is a problem???

[Bic Basher]

The Gardens catchment area has shrunk. You used to be able to register along one side of LL (I'm on the wrong side) but has now shrunk to a much smaller area around the surgery.

http://www.thegardenssurgery.co.uk/register-with-the-practice.html

[tabbycat123]

I today decided to attend the DMC and join the cue at 07:45 I was 4th in the cue. the doors opened at 8am on the dot. Whist cueing the 1st booked straight away the 2nd booked 2 appointments and was trying to find out different times different gp's the 3rd wanted blood results then me. once I booked I just moved to the side and started watching what was going on. I could hear the phones ringing and the 3 people in the back was constantly picking the phones up as quickly as possible, I was very impressed if I must say. People were still coming in booking appointments. at 08:16 the phones stopped and no more patients cueing.i waited till 8:25 a few more people came in and the phone was still ringing on and off. I felt I simple had to come on here and tell everyone. im not saying they are perfect as I have also struggled to get appointments but after asking the lady at the desk she informed me their were 4 DR on 2 pharmacist and 1 nurse and 3 admin staff with 4 more starting later is 4 Dr really enough for a big surgery with over 12,000 patients. I think what I have seen today and my past experience I don't think the issue is the staff I think its how many patients and not enough staff.