What's going on with the phones at DMC??

[james90]

I've just moved to DMC. The phone situation is poor - I could not get through.

But it was the same at my old surgery in North London. The issue is with the NHS and population, not this surgery in particular. It is laughable to discuss or think otherwise. Does anyone watch 24hrs in A&E? It is embarrassing seeing people turn up there with a bruise or splinter. Based on this I am sure the phone lines at medical practices are engaged with even more trivial non-sense. Just a thought?

[Cora]

James I think you'll find that people are going to a@e BECAUSE they can't to see their doctor...

[muffins78]

I will write my experience when I am on the laptop again, I'm slow on the phone! But Im with DMC over 3 years now and it's always been difficult to get through or get an appointment. So much so, I contacted one of those private medical places that companies use for their staff (well that's how I came across them with a previous employer) to get myself a proper check up - as I didn't feel I was getting the attention I required for a few things.

Please don't think that I've loads of money etc., and say that some can't have that luxury - I actually couldn't afford it, had to shuffle a few things around/pay other things late, to accommodate it.

I moved to DMC after being at Paxton Green for about 7 years. Paxton Green was amazing and cannot fault it one bit. They were so caring and accommodating, saving me from having to go to hospital on many occasion - whether it be just giving me blood tests on the spot, minor procedures and simply trusting me, that I knew my condition and health, and always responded to it. I never wanted to leave them, even my consultant wrote to them to see if they could keep me there. They rang me personally to explain why they couldn't keep me after I moved to SE22, but kept me for a little while longer whilst I was going through a particular treatment. I could write so many good things about them.

I don't blame the doctors at DMC, but the way the practice is run leaves a lot to be desired. It would be really my own fault that I've let my health slide, but I believe it's because of the difficulties in getting appointments/time to get the required treatment. I could write a book! And whilst I say great thing about Paxton Green, everyone in Kings is fab too!

Ill ring the number given on this thread on Monday.

They were talking a few years back about you not having to live in a particular postcode to be in a particular practice, does anyone know if that has come into force yet?

[jennyh]

Just to say I was in there on Thursday for daughters flu spray. 2 people in the waiting room, a couple of people in the office doing psperwork and one receptionist who was chatting to a man who was doing something with prescriptions. They weren't talking about work...was general life chitchat. No-one had a phone to their ear once. I asked my husband to try and call in just as a test which he did...yep, was still 6 on the queue. So staffing has to be an issue but I feel there has to be more to it as there appeared to be no efforts to even answer a call despite the presence of staff so i can only presume theyve been instructed to leave the phones in favour of other jobs. The thing that also shocked me was the huge sign out the front saying they are registering new patients which I find astonishing. Was gobsmacked.

Having said that the nurse we saw was absolutely fantastic so want to spread that little bit of positive opinion!

[james90]

Cora Wrote:

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> James I think you'll find that people are going to

> a@e BECAUSE they can't to see their doctor...

My point was maybe we should all take a step back and really consider if we should be visiting a GP/A&E. The examples I quoted were bruises and splinters. I am aware there are many reasons to visit, but I was making the point that there will be a lot of people visiting for no good reason, as demonstrated in that show. If people attend A&E for a bruise, god knows what they bother a local doctor for. They should see neither and deal with it themselves.

I find it pretty likely most people writing here have a genuine reason to seek advice - hence annoyed cannot get it, but this is unlikely to be a representative sample of the population of ED / those who use DMC. I speculate there are a lot of time wasters attending extrapolating from what is seen on the A&E show and from the evidence in the waiting room.

[hpsaucey]

james90 Wrote:

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> Cora Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > James I think you'll find that people are going

> to

> > a@e BECAUSE they can't to see their doctor...

>

> My point was maybe we should all take a step back

> and really consider if we should be visiting a

> GP/A&E. The examples I quoted were bruises and

> splinters. I am aware there are many reasons to

> visit, but I was making the point that there will

> be a lot of people visiting for no good reason, as

> demonstrated in that show. If people attend A&E

> for a bruise, god knows what they bother a local

> doctor for. They should see neither and deal with

> it themselves.

>

> I find it pretty likely most people writing here

> have a genuine reason to seek advice - hence

> annoyed cannot get it, but this is unlikely to be

> a representative sample of the population of ED /

> those who use DMC. I speculate there are a lot of

> time wasters attending extrapolating from what is

> seen on the A&E show and from the evidence in the

> waiting room.

BUT - none of that excuses the treatment some are receiving/medical treatment some are NOT receiving. Admittedly more are likely to post a bad than a good review but...

See this link: http://www.nhs.uk/Services/GP/ReviewsAndRatings/DefaultView.aspx?id=40451&SortType=1#cmnt255215

[Burbage]

james90 Wrote:

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> I speculate there are a lot of

> time wasters attending extrapolating from what is

> seen on the A&E show and from the evidence in the

> waiting room.

That's the impression given by stupidity-porn telly, and what they want you to believe. But taken in conjunction with the news that walk-in centres are closing, it's far from the whole picture.

I've been sent to A&E with a bruise - by my GP (and, at a different time, for a cut finger). This is partly a good thing; I might have broken my foot, and an X-ray could have been advisable. But anyone with five minutes and a knowledge of foot anatomy could have checked more quickly and easily. The trouble is finding one of those. GPs and practice nurses usually won't look at anything you've not planned, and booked, at least three days in advance, and the alternatives, those that are still running, are something of a secret.

The minor injury units and walk-in centres are what's supposed to fill the gap. But GPs, GP receptionists, pharmacists, NHS Direct (until very recently) and even A&E departments don't refer patients to them. It is a matter for deeply cynical speculation why this should be the case, but the upshot is that you either know they exist or you don't. And most people don't. So any sort of urgent (i.e. unplanned) situation, whether it's a splinter or a bruise, ends up at A&E.

This may change if we get a sort-of-polyclinic at the Dulwich Hospital. But whether it'll be advertised, whether you'll be welcome there, and whether GPs will refer patients to it are still very open questions. It's a competitive world in the NHS and A&E is a comparatively cheap referral. Moreover, it's the very lowest-risk of options.

On the matter of DMC specifically, the group has expanded rapidly in the last year, and now offers imaging, practice management and call-centre services to healthcare services both here and abroad. They may not be very good, just yet, and it may mean their surgeries are no longer their core business, but it looks like being the model for the future, so it won't be long before we'll all be enjoying the same quality of service.

[Medusa]

I was with DMC for about ten years. They have a brilliant physio there and some of the doctors are fantastic. Over the course of the last few years, however, things have really taken a nose-dive. I have had two referrals go astray and a third one was sent to the wrong fax no twice...and that was for an urgent brain scan.

Last Tuesday I tried for the last time to make an appointment. I spent half an hour trying to get through. On my 103rd attempt (my mobile listed the number of calls) I got through to an automated message telling me there were nine people ahead of me in the queue.

That afternoon I registered with another practice. I will be writing to DMC's practice manager outlining the reasons I have left. I am reluctant to make assumptions about the reasons why things are this shambolic, but it's just not good enough.

[SebsC]

I received a phone call from one of the co-owners of DMC following my complaint to NHS England - which I urge all people to do as it genuinely has led to wheels being put into motion. He essentially said that all the current problems are due to the Practice Manager who left at the end of August. They apparently left the surgery in such a state and has caused lots of problems that they are still dealing with. I'm not sure i totally believe this and I don't think this warrants the shambolic state that the surgery is now in 3 months later. He said he owns many other surgeries that are all doing really well to which I answered, with all due respect, none of his other surgeries were of my concern, only DMC. He said things were being put into place to try to improve things such as hiring of new, fully trained staff for reception and phones and a new triage system would be put into place as of January to try to better allocate the emergency appointments to those who are genuinely in need of seeing a doctor, which should, he said, lead to a reduction in the number of people having to queue at the doors for an appointment. I stressed to him the importance of clear, open and honest communication with all patients at DMC as I feel people would be a lot more understanding if we were kept informed of the things being done to improve the situation. He did say he would be putting up a message on the forum (not sure if he meant this forum or some other ) to tell patients of the changes and essentially to apologise for the recent shambolic situation, but as yet I have yet to see any message either here or on their website. I sincerely hope that I am proved wrong as the doctors in the surgery have all been great but the system to get to see a doctor is disgraceful and without a huge improvement in the way they communicate openly with their patients, I can't see how things are going to get better.

[hpsaucey]

Thanks for posting the update SebsC. Hope it does improve, but again, does sound like a bit of a fob off. Co-owner should't be blaming a Practice Manager who's left - very unprofessional - but taking some responsibility... 'co-owner' should mean something - i.e. keeping an eye on your practice. Inexcusable IMO...

Seriously tempted to move family to another GP elsewhere.

[Medusa]

I am sceptical. The phone fiasco may have gone from bad to worse, but other issues (such as my repeated botched referrals) predate the practice manager leaving by eighteen months. If this person's work was the cause of *all* these problems, then they should have been sacked for incompetence long ago.

[Pugwash]

I may be wrong but at one time the practice manager was a relative of the Gupta's? not sure if that has been the case for last few months etc.

[KidKruger]

I called Friday PM at 5.30pm, waited as 4th in queue and spoke to someone in 12mins.

The referral I was advised of on 12 August has gone 'astray'. I've called several times since Oct and apparently this week they'll get to the bottom of it.

[minifa48]

Thank you

[SebsC]

So once again I found myself queuing at 7.15 this morning (second in the queue). When the doors opened at 8am there were 34 people in the queue! There were no signs up to explain and apologise for the current situation or to explain the new triage system they are apparently bringing out but there was a piece of paper taped to the door saying they are looking to recruit reception staff!

[Cora]

Today there is is sign saying patient participation meeting Weds 11th 6pm, all welcome.....(worth checking date as from memory which is not great!).......sounds like a good chance to be heard and to hear their plans for improvements.....fingers crossed.

[SebsC]

Cora Wrote:

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> Today there is is sign saying patient

> participation meeting Weds 11th 6pm, all

> welcome.....(worth checking date as from memory

> which is not great!).......sounds like a good

> chance to be heard and to hear their plans for

> improvements.....fingers crossed.

Saw that there today too - that's definitely the date it said and I will definitely be attending! Good chance to have our voices heard. I would encourage as many people as possible to attend as the more voices that re heard the more the chance they might listen!

[damzel]

So this explains the repeat prescription fiasco that Boots had on my behalf last week then, and me not being able to get through on the phone on Friday. I won't bore you with the details, just adding to the list.

[muffins78]

I'm going to that meeting and thanks for letting us know about it. My latest is that they don't have any letter from my consultant to say I should be on certain medication. That is not true, and I've had prescriptions for it before.

I've also got the flu, in a vulnerable group and can't even try to get through on the phones!

You know though, at least I know what is wrong with me, I've had my "diagnosis", so know what to do. What about people who don't know what is wrong with them, and are relying on trying to get through to the surgery, most likely can't, and if a symptom stops, they make think they are okay - when they aren't. Not to mind, some symptoms are fiercely embarassing, and they may build up the courage to deal with it - but then lose their nerve to say anything at all, if the time lapse is too long.

[Alan Medic]

http://www.dmchealthcaresurgeries.co.uk/

It's about being better.........

[james90]

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/03/behind-the-scenes-gp-surgery-evenings-weekends

[Penguin68]

james90's posting history seems both very recent and relatively partial - blame the NHS (and implictly recent reforms) not the surgery. But the article he quotes is not about a DMC style operation - indeed the DMC healthcare group looks rather more like the feared privatisation of the article, with focus on income not patients. If it was all the NHS we might expect a similar level of complaint and problem across the surgeries used by ED people - in fact there are problems, but not so significantly around staffing levels - DMC does seem exceptional in this area, and this is not a recent problem caused by a sudden loss of staff - it has been a constant nagging theme on these pages for ages. Over time the surgery I have used for the last 25 years has had problems - particularly in getting its appointment booking processes and its opening times right - but these have been intermittent and (mainly) addressed.

[James Barber]

I've been asked if I can attend the 11/12 session. I wont be able to due to a work function I need to attend.

I'm concerned this meeting will degenerate as it seems pretty clear they know they have really unahappy/angry patients. Obvious thing to do is employ a receptionist and they havent.

Ideally they' hold 11/12 meeting having done something to start fixing the problems and have an outline plan for fixing all the known problems.

[James]

Called today and was told the wait for a pre-booked is ONE MONTH!

Sorry but this is just ridiculous.

[LadyDeliah]

James Wrote:

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> Called today and was told the wait for a

> pre-booked is ONE MONTH!

>

> Sorry but this is just ridiculous.

Yep, same here.