Long Furlong Medical Centre - Abingdon

Catherine H.

As an elderly person that's pretty good at IT I find the whole system quite opaque. For example if you look on the net there seems to be several ways of contacting the services .You then realise that a small greenish in colour and not very obvious heading is the area you need to click on to go to the form that needs to be filled in for an appointment.
Having managed to fill in the form describing my illness _at the very end I was taken back to the start having pressed to continue. I was then informed there were no more appointments. Why was my time wasted in filling in the form?

Sharon D.

After 25 years I’ve moved to another surgery in Abingdon - I can now make a phone call which is answered within minutes - I’m not 10th in the queue & I get to speak to a polite receptionist - no stupid online forms to complete just to be triaged & maybe be offered a telephone appointment and they disappear within 30 minutes of opening time - first face-to-face appointment offered for over 5 years - very refreshing - such a terrible shame - used to be such a good surgery but I agree with previous comments - just glad I’ve managed to find another surgery locally who are a little bit more receptive to a patient who hasn’t had a face-to-face appointment with a GP for over 5 years because they are so busy - I didn’t even know the name of my assigned GP but I do now

Keith M.

Absolute shambles.

My daughter is home from uni over Christmas and needs some repeat prescriptions and other medication. Previously registered here at Long Furlong, but having also registered at another GP at university, she has tried for the last two weeks while with us at home in Abingdon to register as a temporary patient.

No amount of online forms, phone calls or visits in person has got her any further forward to being able to get her medication. Mixed messages, confusing processes, poor automated communications, different instructions from different people, and we as parents can’t help as she is now over 18.

This is all new for her as a young adult, and no-one seems to want to help guide her through this to a proper resolution.

Pretty much at the point of giving up now and putting up with the discomfort until she goes back to uni.

Really disappointing. We’ve been in the area since 2006 and brought up three children here with Long Furlong; this sort of thing has never been a problem before.

I feel sad to leave this review as I’m a big believer in the NHS, but unfortunately this is the reality of the experience we’ve had.

UPDATE: my daughter has decided today to try another surgery. She called The Abingdon Surgery on Stert Street who asked her to come in, register temporarily and has now had a phone consultation and will be picking up meds this afternoon. All sorted within less than half a day.

Why on Earth can you not provide a basic, comparable service Long Furlong?!?! You haven’t been able to manage to get the basics right in over two weeks of my daughter trying to get help from you.

Please don’t give me the standard response to this review by asking me to write in (without actually giving instructions on where or who to write to, as I see on most of the replies) - we’ve already sent a detailed email to you with details of my daughter’s poor experience.

We’re now seriously considering moving all the family to Abingdon Surgery.

Gerry H.

I have been with this practice for 38 years and despite the current problems have always with the odd occasion been accommodated
On the last 3 occasions I have attended the surgery the only 2 doctors available were locums.None of the regular doctors were in attendance and I have only seen my registered doctor once since I was transferred to her on the retirement of Dr Moore.Incidentally I only found out he had retired 6 months after the event and had to ask who my doctor was.
I recently attended with my grandson aged 4 and saw a locum.He was pleasant but after a very cursory look at his throat sent us away to use calpol 5 days later and he is no better.
The locum will never see us again 5 minute appointment and we were out if the door.
Do we try to arrange a further appointment?
Will we see yet another doctor?
Would it not be feasible to have at least one of the permanent doctors available on a daily basis
there appears to be at least 6/7 on the list.
On that point I receive the surgery newsletter but am in the dark as to who is who and when they are available

Katy S.

Rude, unhelpful and very little point in bothering to phone when you get the reception that ordinary, hard working tax payer's are given. Shambolic waste of time.

Sandra R.

I sent a form in at 8 am and by 8.20 I had a phone call offering me a face to face appointment. 9.30. By 9.30 I was seen by a very friendly and welcoming locum (?Dr Edward’s) and prescription sent to pharmacy. What an excellent result considering all the press at the moment about GPs.

Thierry W.

Can't provide information easily to get an appointment.
I wish I could just send them a note anytime telling them my health problem.
But no. You have to do a form at a certain time of day.

What an awful bureaucracy.

valerie

I phoned the surgery at 8.30 for either a triarge or face to face appointment waited until 12.30 then rang again told I’m on the list 5.30 rang again told I’m on the list but at 5.20 a doctor text to say she didn’t have any appointments for a month and put me on to another doctor to ring me just gone 6 I had a phone call doctor was Brilliant but I had waited in all day it just not on