Dulwich Medical Centre

[HelBel65]

I'm signed up to Patient Access and even have the app but DMC rarely has anything useful to offer. Never seen an actual GP appt. For the past few days, admin appointments only (!) and now, nothing at all!

[richfish]

I have emailed them to ask why I cannot book online so hopefully it will all become clearer whether you can in fact do what they say. Or maybe not.

[Nanny]

My experience at this practice since I moved to the area a couple of years ago has not been positive. It took three sets of application forms to register with the practice (because the previous two sets were apparently 'lost'). I am fortunately in good health but the few occasions when I have tried to use the practice, particularly when I needed emergency care for chronic pain caused by an ear infection, I've been unable to get an appointment and resorted to private GP services, which I have used since.

I was surprised to receive an invitation for a checkup to test for signs of CHD, diabetes etc. I welcomed the opportunity to be tested for these illnesses, phoned and found it easy to get an appointment. I even received a text reminder, things were looking up.

On the day, the experience (and noise) in the waiting room was horrendous, people protesting, demanding and yelling at the reception staff, mostly stating their rights and demanding to be seen by a doctor. I felt for the staff but understood how these people probably felt, frustrated. I noticed a sign advertising an event on 1st April for patients to come and discuss their issues about the practice, I smiled at the irony of the date.

Eventually my name was shown and the appointment was in a room upstairs....but I couldn't get beyond the upstairs waiting area because the door to the practice rooms did not have a handle and was locked shut, I waited for a while for someone to come out but nobody did so I went back down to the reception to queue behind the protesters until I noticed a man leaning over the balcony as if looking for a patient. I made my way up the stairs again to meet the on site pharmacist (who conducts the medicals), looking for his tardy patient. I mentioned that I had been waiting but there was a problem with the door and he glumly told me someone must have shut it.....not an uncommon situation for a door I thought but usually overcome by the provision of a handle to open it again.

Medical complete, my results showed me to be below average, which for once was a good result. I had some questions which he said required a doctor to answer so he arranged for me to have a telephone appointment to discuss further with a doctor. My luck with appointments seems to be improving, when I don't have a medical emergency there is no problem getting one!

Ahead of the phone appointment on Tuesday I received two text messages, one on Friday and one on Monday, both said "Dulwich Medical Centre Crystal Palace Road - Thank you for booking your appointment". Assuming there is a cost for using this text message service and that it is not used for gratitude but to serve as a reminder so people do not miss appointments, it lacked the critical data such as date and time of the appointment.

The doctor did call me as arranged. She wasn't able to answer my question as she needed to refer to another department. When I suggested that my records should contain the information that was needed from my previous GP notes in 2007, it was a little disconcerting (but not surprising) to be told that not all data will be on my records as some data was lost when transferring to electronic records. There was no follow up appointment made, I'll wait a week to see if I hear back from the doctor.

Clearly DMC CPR has organisation/management issues and struggles to provide the good people of East Dulwich with an efficient medical service. Having checked their website, the event on 1st April might have been the Patient Participation Group meeting that they hold every three months, however the newsletter from the last meeting in December suggested the next meeting would be 16th March http://www.dmccrystalpalaceroad.co.uk/website/G85651/files/DMC_e-news.pdf which mentions tackling missed appointments by sending text messages but even that appears to have failed if they are sending them without appointment details. I do not see any notes posted from a meeting on 16th March.

I was not aware that there was a patient group that had a voice. The next meeting is on 11th June.

http://www.dmccrystalpalaceroad.co.uk/ppg.aspx

[Cora]

PLEASE complain to the NHS number/email provided earlier in the thread (I think James Barber has also given a reference number somewhere to quote - it really is easy and is the only way to get results) especially about saying you can email for appointments when infact you cannot, especially you Richfish as you could forward them the email they sent you (with personal details removed if you want to stay anonymous) specifying that you cannot despite offering the service on here and on the website.

[Cedges]

I emailed for an appointment and got one - I think there is more of a training issue for the folks receving the emails rather than the inability to book this way...obvioulsy still not good but I wouldn't say that website or representative on here is giving false information.

[bawdy-nan]

Apparently, so they told me today, they have had some "locums" in recently but haven't recruited anymore staff. They also suggested that I "read the news" to see that the problems with getting appointments aren't really a problem specific to them rather a problem happening "everywhere".

[richfish]

I gave up on the email route, and it appears that to register and use Patient Access you need to have proof of ID verified by the surgery before you have authorised use. So I ended up with the old phone and 20 minutes of repeated calling at 8am today paid off. I got a call back at 3.30pm today and an appointment at 6pm. Amazing. Though it does all feel rather random and inconsistent which isn't the best standard to attain when you are feeling ill. Anyways will do as Cora recommends as well.

[rallfrey]

I have in the past complained strongly about the DMC writing to every medical and council authority I could think of. Now two years later my last visit was really positive, no waiting, doctor asked good questions, made helpful suggestions and didn't seem to be in a hurry. It appears they are making an effort and have in fact improved their customer/patient service.

[ksh]

Tried to get my son an appointment first thing this morning. Experienced the usual issues in even getting into the telephone queuing system. When our call was finally answered, we were told that there were no physical appointments or even slots for a triage call back, so essentially, try again tomorrow. This isn't acceptable and the remedial plan is obviously not working. Have emailed NHS England to complain.

[Jeremy]

In my (recent) experience the best bet is the queue at around 7:40, then you should at least get a triage call that day.

In some ways it is a backwards step from the previous system, where if you got there early enough you would get an appointment.

[Goodliz]

After 3 months of waiting for my 10 year old son's hospital appointment, we went along to Kings today only to be told they hadn't been forwarded the paperwork from DMC and he had been referred to the wrong hosiptal. What a let down for my son and a total waste of so many people's time. I have just complained to the email address given on this thread. Thanks for providing it.

[James Barber]

Last night I attended the Dulwich Medical Centre Patient Participation Group. Other examples of what you've described Goodliz. They have their AGM in September.

Goodliz, Please email the details of your experiences so I can take up with thE DMC. They appear to have a generic issue. They are recruiting more admin staff to answer the phone first thing as well as support other admin work.

Just a couple of points before I write up my notes.

DMC release appointments to online booking at 7.30am every day and then phone and in person bookings from 8am. Currently virtually no one is booking GP appointments online. From memory 9 people in May booked an appointment GP online. If people have tried and found the online system rubbish please tell me why and when so we can get it worknig properly.

[hpsaucey]

James Barber Wrote:

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

> Last night I attended the Dulwich Medical Centre

> Patient Participation Group. Other examples of

> what you've described Goodliz. They have their AGM

> in September.

>

> Goodliz, Please email the details of your

> experiences so I can take up with thE DMC. They

> appear to have a generic issue. They are

> recruiting more admin staff to answer the phone

> first thing as well as support other admin work.

>

> Just a couple of points before I write up my

> notes.

> DMC release appointments to online booking at

> 7.30am every day and then phone and in person

> bookings from 8am. Currently virtually no one is

> booking GP appointments online. From memory 9

> people in May booked an appointment GP online. If

> people have tried and found the online system

> rubbish please tell me why and when so we can get

> it worknig properly.

I tried to register for the online system a while ago - I tried myself, my partner and my children in turn. It failed to recognise any of our details so frankly I'm not surprised that there are very few online bookings!

It may have not recognised mine as apparently I have been de-registered (DMC said this was not their fault apparently). But for the others it should have worked. Somewhere way way back on an EDF thread I think other people said they found the same thing. I did tell them than I was unable to register online but there are only so many times you can tell someone there system is rubbish without anything changing before you give up.

Pi** up and brewery come to mind.

HP

[Jeremy]

I've just registered... the registration process seemed to work, so next time I need an appointment will try online.

[hpsaucey]

Jeremy Wrote:

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

> I've just registered... the registration process

> seemed to work, so next time I need an appointment

> will try online.

Maybe they've sorted it then!!?? That would be good.

HP

[No name]

James Barber Wrote:

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

> Last night I attended the Dulwich Medical Centre

> Patient Participation Group. Other examples of

> what you've described Goodliz. They have their AGM

> in September.

>

> Goodliz, Please email the details of your

> experiences so I can take up with thE DMC. They

> appear to have a generic issue. They are

> recruiting more admin staff to answer the phone

> first thing as well as support other admin work.

>

> Just a couple of points before I write up my

> notes.

> DMC release appointments to online booking at

> 7.30am every day and then phone and in person

> bookings from 8am. Currently virtually no one is

> booking GP appointments online. From memory 9

> people in May booked an appointment GP online. If

> people have tried and found the online system

> rubbish please tell me why and when so we can get

> it worknig properly.

Hi James,

Was anything discussed around actually increasing the number of appointments available each day? People can scramble around and put in more admin staff, force us to queue outside and even let us book online but if the appointments aren't there then no progress has been made. I had to queue a couple of weeks ago with tonsilitis, almost fainted (as I hadn't eaten anything obviously) and was told that there is only one Doctor starting at 8.30am and only two doctors all day. I don't understand it, all the GP surgeries I have been with before have at least 4 or 5. I just wanted to check if they're tackling the full extent of their problems.

Thanks!

[James Barber]

Hi No name,

Yes. They're now ensuring more consistant supply of numbers of appointments each day. More use of Locums to cover holidays etc. Thy gave example of a new Locum spending an average of 20mins with patients rather than expected 10 minutes and not finishing the surgery until 9.30pm. Which causes a different problem of excessive late appointments. The PPG discussed this and DMC agreed to review how they keep people informed about this.

The NHS England complaint I made was resolved with an agree action plan that they have to report on every two weeks to track progress. They appear to be making real progress but it will take further time to complete this.

Hi hpsaucy,

Please do try to register again and tell me how it goes. Apologies but can we use you as a litmus test for this please!

[lemonellen]

I also tried to register online yesterday (for online bookings) but the system didn't recognise me.

I called and got an appointment for Tuesday, which is a first in my experience. Hopefully I can resolve the online booking when I go in.

[hpsaucey]

James Barber Wrote:

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

> Hi No name,

> Yes. They're now ensuring more consistant supply

> of numbers of appointments each day. More use of

> Locums to cover holidays etc. Thy gave example of

> a new Locum spending an average of 20mins with

> patients rather than expected 10 minutes and not

> finishing the surgery until 9.30pm. Which causes a

> different problem of excessive late appointments.

> The PPG discussed this and DMC agreed to review

> how they keep people informed about this.

>

> The NHS England complaint I made was resolved with

> an agree action plan that they have to report on

> every two weeks to track progress. They appear to

> be making real progress but it will take further

> time to complete this.

>

> Hi hpsaucy,

> Please do try to register again and tell me how it

> goes. Apologies but can we use you as a litmus

> test for this please!

HI there - yes. Will give it a go in the next couple of days and let you know how I get on...

HP

[SebsC]

I just managed to register myself and my son without any problems.

[bawdy-nan]

I think, as others have mentioned already, that a huge part of the problem is that there are simply too few doctors on duty. Quite recently I managed to secure an appointment for my son on a Friday afternoon. It had, as you might imagine, been a tremendous struggle to get an appointment at all. When we arrived the place was deserted and, as far as I could tell, there was only 1 GP working. Given the number of patients registered and the huge demand for appointments this seems ridiculous. I just don't buy the "locum" thing. I think they just don't have enough GPs working each day. Are there any "standards" set by the CQC about ratio of worked hours bs registered patients, does anyone know?

[drewd]

I just tried to register online and got: "The details you have entered do not match the details your practice holds. Please edit your details and try again. Please note - you must already be registered as a patient at Dulwich Medical Centre (Crystal Palace Road) to use Patient Access."

I was there only two weeks ago about an ongoing issue so very much hope I have not been unregistered.

Edited to add that I definitely added my details correctly!

[tfwsoll]

I just managed to register on-line so thanks for the reminder.

Last time I called to query why I hadn't had a text appointment reminder, I was told that they don't send them anymore as they were confusing people. This is such a standard practice thesedays that I am confused as to why they would stop?

James - can you shed any light on this as I would have thought it would prevent some missed appointments?

[James Barber]

Hi tfwsoll, I will ask about this.

Hi drewd, If you email me your details and when you tried I will ask the DMC - they may have a systemic issue that needs fixing.

Hi bawdy-nan, Exactly the situation you experienced was raised at the PPG on Wednesday. We were told that this often means that either thy have doctors worknig through all the letters from hospitals, test results etc, or one instance between session periods. NHS England is monitoring their performance and one of the item on the agreed action plan is abut ensuring sufficient appointment slots.

I suspect what you and I would call sufficient is different to NHS England.

[bawdy-nan]

James, I've just been researching this a bit and I think the NHS benchmark is 72 appointments per thousand registered patients per week.

According to the NHS choices website DMC has 10554 registered patients which should mean 760 appointments a week or 150 a day in a 5 day week. If you assume 6 appointments an hour that means there should be 25 hours of gp appointments every day, irrespective of letter writing etc.

Is this being provided? If not, why?