Royton residents share the struggle to speak to a GP

Both the Royton and Crompton Family Practice (Wellbeing Centre) and the Royton Medical Centre have come under fire from patients who claim they face enormous difficulty trying to get an appointment – and suggest seriously ill people, as well as the elderly and disabled, could be falling through the cracks.

The GP surgeries situated on Park Street and Chapel Street have said in separate statements to The Oldham Times that they are facing a shortage of GPs, an increase in demand post-Covid while patients fail to turn up or cancel their appointments.

The Royton & Crompton Family Practice is the Wellbeing Centre on Park Street. Image by Google Maps.

Speaking to a GP face-to-face is a nationwide issue for Britons across the country, however, Royton residents claim the booking system at the two practices is leaving them struggling.

Helena Karch has been at the Royton & Crompton Family Practice for 30 years yet she said it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get an appointment – including in just the last two weeks.

The 66-year-old said: “It’s an absolute disgrace. You can never get in if you’re working, it’s an absolute joke.”

After complaining and receiving the wrong prescription, Ms Karch said she was eventually able to get an appointment but added: “It was quite a struggle.”

Meanwhile, another woman at the practice who wanted to remain anonymous, said she has only been a patient at the surgery for 18 months and trying to get an appointment is 'absolutely diabolical'.

She said: “When you ring first thing in the morning, you are either put in a lengthy queue and then by the time you get through, if you’re lucky, they have no appointments left."

The woman said it's a "disgrace" that patients are being denied face-to-face appointments.

She added: “I work as a dental nurse and we have been seeing patients non-stop throughout the pandemic.

“I question how doctors can possibly assess patients over the phone without seeing them. Something needs to change."

The dental nurse even said she found a loophole to obtain an appointment - which has been through emailing the complaints department.

She showed The Oldham Times evidence of her many complaints to the GP surgery and said she only resorts to this method out of "frustration".

"It shouldn't be this way. I shouldn't have to do this to get the level of care that I need."

However, she said she "can't really complain" about the doctors at Royton & Crompton GP surgery who "go above and beyond" to help.

Royton & Crompton Family Practice said it "recognises the difficulties patients experience when requesting appointments" and said that historically, appointments were booked online, in person and via the telephone.

However, it said it has suffered from an "exponential increase" in demand post-Covid and that it has set up additional systems as well as a pilot platform to try to mitigate against the rise.

The Royton and Crompton Family Practice said it has suffered from an "exponential increase" in demand post-Covid. Image by Canva/Unsplash.

The GP surgery said the schemes have resulted in a decline in telephone demand from vulnerable users and claimed patient feedback has been "immensely positive" on the service.

The statement also revealed face-to-face appointments can be made by a direct request on the phone and added: "Continuity is maintained wherever possible, and staff will endeavour to book a patient with a clinician of their choice."

The Royton Medical Centre on Chapel Street was recently refurbished. Image by Google Maps.

Yet over at Royton Medical Centre, the situation isn’t much better.

Adrian Rooke and his wife, Janet, said they have only been with the practice for six months and have had a “totally different experience” there than at their previous surgery which was forced to close in the pandemic.

Mr Rooke said the pair continually struggle to get an appointment – and they struggle to grapple with the technology that is needed to send things electronically to the surgery.

He said: “If you want an appointment, you need to physically go at eight in the morning.

“The telephone line cuts you off after waiting 15-20 minutes.”

However, the 70-year-old said he doesn’t like “presenting” his case at the reception desk because people in the queue can overhear potentially “embarrassing or awkward things.”

He said he is then often told a nurse will call him back later.

“But it’s sod’s law isn’t it, because I miss that phone call. And sometimes they will ask us to send a photograph electronically – and for older people who aren’t down with the kids, it’s very difficult to do that.”

Mr Rooke also said he and his wife were left “all in a panic and a dither” one evening when Mrs Rooke received the wrong ‘alert’ text message.

“They used the wrong wording from a templated text”, he said.

“It’s a very dangerous means of communication and all of these things have an impact on people. It’s a total shambles.”There has been an 'exodus' of GP staff from the profession and shortages are rife across the country. Image by Canva/Unsplash.

He added:  “The system is not treating people with care and in reality, (doctors) cannot be happy with dealing with people like this.”

Gerard Thompson is another patient at Royton Medical Centre who has had a “nightmare” over the past two years.

The 69-year-old relies on a mobility scooter to get around and has struggled with liver cancer since the start of the pandemic.

He said he was “lucky” to discover the problem before lockdown but that booking an appointment remains a persistent problem.

Mr Thompson said: “It was run for years faultless - no problem. Good doctors.

“But then Covid came along with all the restrictions.

“Now, you’ve got no chance of getting an appointment after five past eight.

“If you’re lucky enough to get through, and if you’re lucky enough to get an appointment, then it will be a telephone appointment and sometimes it’s even a pharmacist that will ring you back.”

As a result, Mr Thompson said he has resorted to queuing up at reception but said the experience is “frightening”.

“You’re on edge, listening to the person in front hoping the receptionist won’t say all the appointments have gone.

“You’re begging for an appointment – actually beginning for one and if you do get one, you’re lucky.”

Mr Thompson said he had to endure the process only recently after suffering from a pain in his side which made him “jump” because of his cancer diagnosis.

Yet he said he had to “play biology tennis” with the receptionist to convince them of the problem and plead his case for a face-to-face appointment.

Instead, he was told to ring back if the pain persisted.

“I felt I was just left. There was a total reluctance to see me.

“Our bodies are 24/7 and so should doctors.

“It’s frightening. You fear inside and just hope that you don’t get unwell.”

Mr Thompson also pointed out that while the refurbished building looked "fabulous" he said there is rarely anyone sat in the "immense area of chairs."

“It’s gone from one extreme to another.

“It was fabulous before – yes you had to sit in a grubby waiting room, but at least you got to see a doctor.”

Patients in Royton said they have resorted to queuing up at the front desk at their GP surgeries because they can't get through on the phone. Image by Canva/Unsplash.

Amongst other complaints, Mr Thompson pointed out a lack of accessibility to the building, including a bus route, and said he worries about older and more vulnerable people who can't afford contract phones and the lengthy wait in the telephone queue.

He also said patients are told to discuss one problem per appointment and are only given a 10-minute time slot which he claims is not enough.

Both practices said they are unable to comment on individual cases but stressed that the care of their patients is "paramount".

Royton Medical Centre said it has 5,870 patients to attend to and a generous clinical team to meet the demand, however, their statement said some appointments go to waste.

The Medical Centre's statement revealed the practice offered 4,411 appointments to patients in June 2022, of which 1,198 were conducted over the phone and almost 73 per cent were delivered face-to-face.

Yet in the same time period, 9.3 per cent of appointments were wasted due to patients not attending booked appointments.

The practice is urging patients to cancel their appointments with as much notice as possible so that they can be offered to others.

However, the surgery also said it is working to improve its booking service and make the patient journey "smooth" by allowing patients to book in advance or online, with a new appointment system coming to the surgery in October 2022.

The statement concluded: “As a learning practice we always welcome feedback to improve our patient experience.”

Royton & Crompton Family Practice also said: "The practice operates a robust complaints procedure and aims to resolve patient concerns immediately and employs a dedicated patient liaison officer.

"We are always looking for ways to improve our services and value patient feedback."

Both the GP practices have said they take complaints seriously and that the welfare of their patients remains "paramount." Image by Canva/Unsplash.

Amanda Chadderton, leader of Oldham Council, said: “Last year Royton Labour Councillors received similar complaints from local residents and we wrote to and met with the practices to speak to them (about) how things could be improved.

"We were assured that plans were being put in place to deal with the issues that patients were highlighting."

Cllr Chadderton said she was "horrified to hear" that Royton residents are still struggling to get through to a doctor but said they are "sadly not alone".

She highlighted falling GP numbers across the country as well as an NHS backlog of cases which she said is causing issues in the local deliverance of healthcare to constituents across the country.

The Labour Councillor for Royton South said the Labour Party raised the issues to the Government but added that "12 years of Conservative rule" has seen the NHS suffer "irreparable damage" with an exodus of staff, "lies about 40 new hospitals" and "no clear plan on how else to fund our health service under a new Prime Minister."

The Cllr added: "Instead of lurching from disaster to disaster (the Government) need to get a grip and focus on the things that matter to people.

"I will be writing to the two medical practices in Royton and requesting to try and work through the problems that have been highlighted.”