Dulwich Medical Centre

[Fuschia]

Though there is nothing like seldoc. You go to urgent care, out of hours, and queue for 2h!

[DMC Healthcare]

For patients who would like to sign up to receive text reminders for appointments and to be able to cancel appointments by text rather than phone, here is the link to the Communication Consent Form https://www.mysurgerywebsite.co.uk/secure/sms.aspx?p=G85651

[Jeremy]

Fuschia - don't know where you live now, but London/inner-city services are particularly stretched. (although I would be surprised if many were worse affected than DMC).

[No name]

DMC Healthcare, why do you continue to ignore the fact that patients are telling you they can't see a Doctor when they need to? Do you admit that it isn't working in its current form and you need more Doctors? How else do you explain peoples' frustrations at not being able to get much needed appointments? And please don't regurgitate the point on people not cancelling their appointments - the point is that if those people attended their appointments there still wouldn't be enough for the Public you're supposed to serve.

[Penguin68]

Having read this thread, and its many predecessors, it appears that there is little issue with the quality of the medical staff at DMC (indeed some praise for some) - it is their availability which is an issue. This appears to be a function of either/ and poor resourcing or poor processes & systems. Unlike many GP practices which are partnerships, the salaried doctors will not also (I am guessing) form part of a practice management team, so there is little they can do to improve things.

For whatever reasons it is the business model being employed which is failing patients here - poor resources and/ or poor management systems will not be improved by adding (as the practice appears to be trying to do) to patient numbers by further recruitment. One might suggest it is doctors and office staff they need to be recruiting, not patients. Indeed a focus on business diversification before the core business (GP-ing) is remedied seems a policy of madness.

Offsetting your over-trading by pushing customers onto other business (those designed to remedy out-of-hours and emergency surges of need) is a short term remedy only - true as a business modelled on customers not using it (the ideal GP practice has very large numbers of extremely well patients who never book appointments or need treatment) you can get away with this for a short time - but a consistent failure to deliver against your contract with the NHS will, eventually, catch up with you, even in this gentlemanly world of second, third and fourth chances. Sadly, GP capacity in ED means that the entire patient list will not be able to vote with their feet.

There is a shortage of GPs in London in particular - and getting to see doctors is not ideal in any surgery (although many locally are much better) - but this is no excuse for DMC to be such a performance outlier, even in a stretched area.

[Apple and pears]

Well said to the comment above no name..... I thought myself that DMC are getting out of the very important issue, that needs looking into urgently for there patients welfare.( like myself ) and we are suffering because all they justify with is the cancelling appointments,,,,, I've never done no such thing, and I'm sure loads of patients are the same. But we still cannot get an appointment..... For such a big surgery system there's not enough Drs there on a daily basic.so that needs looking into to allow the patients to see a Dr.

[JaneAusten]

I was sixth or seventh in the queue this morning (arrived there around 7.40am). All same-day appointments gone by the time I reached the desk. Offered triage phone call. Long and short of it is either the walk-in clinic in New Cross Gate or more than a three-week wait for an appointment at DMC or try again tomorrow. I have no problem with the doctors I've seen or spoken to there but I think that the waiting time for appointments is scandalous.

[Fuschia]

Would be interesting to know how many doctor hours are provided, relative to the number of patients.

It is surely having insufficient sixties that lies at the bottom of this?

[Fuschia]

When I lived in ED and made a complaint, the answer was that several of their drs were on maternity leave. Hardly an excuse.

[Simon Cyrene]

DMC Healthcare Wrote:

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

> For patients who would like to sign up to receive

> text reminders for appointments and to be able to

> cancel appointments by text rather than phone,

> here is the link to the Communication Consent Form

> https://www.mysurgerywebsite.co.uk/secure/sms.aspx

> ?p=G85651

What do you say in reply to my anecdote on page 1 posted on 11th February?

We were unable, it seemed at the time, to remove our Mothers name from your records when she had passed away. Your letter asking for an explanation for a missed appointment was, looking back, priceless, although very stressful at the time. We can only assume that these appointments were depriving someone who, how can we put this, was ACTUALLY STILL LIVING !!

Patients of DMC: No apology was ever forthcoming from them to us. So glad I am not a patient there.

[tash b]

Dmc your post about cancelling appointments did make me laugh when nearly everyone on here has posted they can not get appointments in the beginning, and all I hear is appointments being cancelled from dmc one being myself this week as there on maternity leave, are there no such thing as arranging cover at them times??

[Fuschia]

Very relevant news item

m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-31507610

[Robert Poste's Child]

In the five or so years I spent with DMC before finally giving up, I felt that because there were never enough doctors and a lot of locums, I never saw the same person twice and they didn't have time to read my history or consider problems holistically - they just focused on the most obvious symptom and the response was usually a prescription or occasionally a referral. To me they seemed to operate, as I've said on past threads, as a triage centre for the wider health service. Perhaps this is how the NHS is supposed to work nowadays, but I don't get that impression from my current GPs even though they're very busy too.

[ednewmy]

I emailed that NHS email address posted a few pages back and had a response this morning from someone with the title of "Senior Primary Care Commissioning Manager. GP & Pharmacy NHS England, London Region" saying that NHS England are aware of the issues and are "working with the practice to bring about a resolution".

It's nice to get a response and I only hope that things will change...

[Apple and pears]

The same here I emailed them too, and got a reply,this morning, that they are looking into this, and that they are aware of it, they must have so many complaints,,,,so fingers crossed DMC will improve very soon.

[SebsC]

Just to make parents aware, it was brought to my attention by another parent at my son's nursery that her child had missed their pre-school immunisations booster, due at 3 years and 4 months old. She is registered at DMC and didn't receive a letter to tell her it is due. It was only through speaking to a friend whose child had had it that she became aware. I am also registered at DMC and realised through this that my son had also missed it. I phoned and made an appointment for my son to have it - a three week wait for an appointment. When I attended I asked the receptionist why no letters had been sent out to tell parents their child was due an immunisation and was told that for some reason the letters hadn't been sent out. Also, whilst I was there they told me my son was also overdue his second MMR immunisation but again letters had failed to go out. So, if your child is over 3 years and 4 months and hasn't had their pre-school immunisation or are overdue any others and you want them to have it, make sure you make an appointment.

[edhistory]

Sabina Grezda-McArthur is your person if you want to escalate a complaint within the company. She is responsible for overall service delivery performance.

http://www.dmchealthcare.co.uk/about-dmc/the-team/

She says she is very good at troubleshooting:

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/sabina-grzeda-mcarthur/52/925/863

John K

[Monkey]

Yes, we noticed this too when we were there. Empty waiting room in the afternoon when people were going mad on the ED forum complaining about lack of appointments!

>

> As a matter of interest, has anyone else noticed

> that when yiu are there for an appt,there appears

> to be only 2 or 3 doctors working at a time? There

> used to be ten or so at my previous practice and

> the service was impeccable!!

>

[Penguin68]

So, if your child is over 3 years and 4 months and hasn't had their pre-school immunisation or are overdue any others and you want them to have it, make sure you make an appointment.

This is a really worrying development to the DMC saga - childhood immunisation is vital (and

I think is one of the things GP practices are specifically paid to do, but I am happy to be corrected here). If these are not happening there may be a real problem of local epidemics (where 'herd immunity' is compromised). Normally injections would be handled by the practice nurse, rather than GPs, but it is easy for parents to forget (or simply not know) the relevant timings.

[muffins78]

Yes empty waiting rooms, mostly quiet when I go there - and when there is a few more people in than usual, it's hardly busy then either! But it's not to say the doctors aren't busy, only that there are just a couple on. I reckon that's why you are sent to a colored room, as opposed to seeing a doctor/nurses name on the board! Rarely see any doctor twice either. They forget to do things there, so not surprised about the kiddies immunisations at all.

Tip for what it's worth, I always try and get a scanned copy if any letters from the hospital, same with blood test results etc., so that when I do get an appt and something is not on the system I've got the back up. Mind you the last time I did that, the doctor barely took my word for it, despite the letter attachment clearly coming from a Kings emails address!

[Pugwash]

I was asked to refer one of my clients to a local GP as he was not registered with a GP so I suggested 306 Lordship Lane. I explained to my client that although their home was nearer to DMC, they would actually be able to get an appointment easier with 306. Receptionist at 306 LL was very helpful and advised that as long as people had an SE22 post code they could apply to be registered there.

[Cora]

I don't remember ever having a letter for any of my children about their immunisations and my eldest is ten.

[Penguin68]

20 years and more ago the early inoculations were covered off (as far as reminders) by the Health Visitors (do those still exist?) with the pre-school reminders coming from the surgery, if memory serves. The schools then handled school-time inoculations - such as the TB one. We had to fill in a form each year for the school saying which inoculations had been done, which also acted as a reminder. Since then I think more inoculations have been introduced (my eldest, certainly, was pre-MMR) and surgeries have been incentivised by payments (I believe) if they achieve the right percentage of inoculation take-up - so presumably in their best interests to remind. I think things like tetanus boosters were alway going to be down to parents to remember.

[tash b]

Cora I never got letters either my youngest is eleven, our red books have all the info in them.

[brain_opera]

DMC are making excuses here and on NHS choices blaming cancellations and maternity leave for lack of appointments. Which is a crock, this has been going on for years. Other surgeries have cancellations and doctors on leave and they cope. How dare you blame your patients for how awful you are?!

It's not just appointments. You're terrible at *everything*. Sending out letters as above. Prescriptions. You NEVER, not once, did a timely prescription for me. I had to go down in person after chasing them for days to get them. Twice you left me completely without, once I had to pay for 4 days worth of my life sustaining medication and another time had to get Seldoc. Something so simple and you can't even do that.

You are a disgrace and should be closed down. Your evasive blaming responses are completely disrespectful to the people whose lives you are endangering.