Darwinmedicalpractice Avis 

Made a complaint regarding treatment received by Darwin medical. I received a response by Dr n.complete word salad did not tell the truth answered none of my concerns and only answered questions no one asked ?

Getting an appointment here is a nightmare. No quarrel at all with the nurses at this surgery, always helpful, friendly and imbue you with confidence which is more than can be said by the reception/appointments team who (and this is not just my opinion but that of several users of this surgery who I know) are so quick to take offence and demand that you put something in writing even when they’re rude to you and when experience about the surgery’s failures to make hospital appointments or provide the agreed follow up treatment are met with defensive aggression ie do you realise we have 27,000 patients etc is met with fatuous words and promises which never materialise. I note that the practice performs badly in recent surveys relating to appointment and waiting times.

This practice portrays the worst of what is wrong in the Health Service. Administratively heavy, arrogant management, long waits for appointments, and a ‘patients don’t matter’ culture
The surgery is run across 3 sites in Lichfield, Burntwood, Chasetown, with doctors hip hopping between sites. It is near impossible to ever get an appointment with the same doctor twice. Administration is Lichfield based, Lichfield oriented and Lichfield first. Often the only way to get an appointment is to travel to Lichfield.
Doctors come and go faster than football managers. No sooner do you get used to a doctor than they have got out and moved on. It is clearly not the stable happy practice it once was. The named doctor system is random, meaningless and haphazardly changed without reference to the patient. When I’ve questioned it, I was told that it is meaningless and to ignore it.
The culture of the practice is anything but ‘patient first’. You take what you are given in appointments. If you dare to criticise you are sent a nasty letter classifying you as ‘rude‘ and threatening to expel you from the practice like a naughty boy.
This practice epitomises the difference between private sector management and NHS management. Private sector management can’t afford conflict, is about solving it at the lowest level and getting on with the task. NHS management seems to need conflict, even imagine or manufacture it in order to justify it’s own expensive and cancerous existence.
Management is remote, off site, arrogant and haughty. This can be seen from statements around the practice and the tone of correspondence. Management clearly believes that it should be immune from criticism, however incompetent it may be.
Getting appointments is more about the repeat dialling facility of your telephone than medical need.
Diagnosis is frequently presumptive and anything but thorough. I have had serious conditions missed through want of examination; been sent for the wrong operation on the wrong part of my body; been prescribed inappropriate life changing drugs through failure of assessment; had a disablement ignored without examination by 2 doctors till internet diagnosis gained an appointment with a competent physiotherapist and treatment leading to complete cure; suffered unnecessary and uncomfortable treatment over 3 years because of a ‘couldn’t be bothered’ presumptive diagnosis. I could detail, but I don’t wish to pinpoint individual doctors, when the problem is a practice culture.
The drug manufacturers must love this practice: statins, beta blockers, anti biotics and painkillers standard fare on regular prescriptions; prescription review a rarely occuring joke. Mine has been overdue since 2012. Easy to see where the health service millions are being drained. Don’t expect to get explanation or warning about the drugs you are prescribed. Nor can you expect doctors to connect any health condition with their record of medicines prescribed or their side effects.
With practices like this one, it is easy to see that the pushdoctor site will prosper. £20 for a 10 minute consultation with a professional doctor in the comfort of your own home; a serious alternative to the appointments hassle, waiting and cancellation, the frequent hopelessness of car parking at Swan island, and a questionable service when you do get there. Fortunately Burntwood is blessed with some smaller doctor’s surgeries, which retain a human face, Burntwood based management, easy appointments and car parking; able to restore one’s faith in the NHS. Unlike the Spires (rebranded by another Lichfield label - Erasmus Darwin), it is possible to always see the same doctor, and always get a speedy appointment without being faced with a plethora of appointments rules and systems which nobody can keep up with or understand.