Residents have been expressing frustration about reduced hours at the Thorold Road doctors' surgery, and some report they’re struggling to book appointments.

 

A poster in the adjoining Boots pharmacy earlier in April (now on display on the Medical Centre door), said: "Due to unforeseen circumstances the Surgery will be closed on the following days," and listed six days in April earmarked for early closing from 1pm.

It said that “urgent care is still available from 14:00 to 17:00” and that “should you be booked in for a same day appointment this will be held at one of our other sites at either Ladies walk or Weston land surgeries”.

The photograph of a similar poster that was apparently displayed during March shows afternoon closures on about eight days that month, with four from 1pm and other closures from various times from 12.30pm to 4pm.

The surgery’s website gives usual weekday opening as 8am - 6.30pm and also lists days when opening hours have been “adjusted”.

We haven’t yet been able to confirm whether similar closures have taken place in previous months or what is meant by “unforeseen”, but it’s thought that a shortage of GPs is to blame – a pattern that’s reflected nationally according to reports (for example here  and here).

Some residents have been expressing frustration online – on Twitter, Facebook and on the Nextdoor site.

Amanda Topley, who lives near the Triangle, started a long Nextdoor thread about the surgery (login required), saying that “getting an appointment is near impossible”. She said she was told she needed an appointment to discuss blood test results, but when she phoned to book was told none was available.

Kathy Baker, on the same thread, said she’d been trying “for nearly five weeks to get an appointment”. She said: “I ring most days and IF I get a reply, which doesn't always happen - I'm put on hold and have waited up to 35 minutes before I get fed up and hang up, when I have got through I'm always told ‘we are only making appointments for two weeks ahead and there aren't any, you will have to ring back tomorrow’.”

We asked NHS Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on April 23 to confirm what the “unforeseen circumstances” around the early surgery closures are, how long they’ve been going on, when the situation will be resolved and to comment on some of the problems patients report experiencing. A spokesperson said they’d shared the request for comment with the Living Well Partnership – the practice that runs Bitterne Park and various other surgeries in the area – who would respond directly. We’ll endeavour to update this piece if they do over the next few days.

An online notice to patients apparently from the Living Well Partnership dated January 2018 said: “Demand upon our service exceeds our capacity to provide routine doctor and nursing appointments. This issue is not ours alone but, as widely reported in the national press, it is something affecting many practices across the country.”

The 2018 notice said that its GP patient list size was double the average and that it had “an on-going recruitment programme to attract new GP’s to join us on a long term basis, but this takes time. Currently we simply do not have the capacity to provide any more clinical sessions or routine appointment slots.”

Information about appointments for practice patients is on the Bitterne Park Surgery website.

The CCG’s website gives more general information about support available locally, and about Southampton GP practices here.

The CCG also said: “Although we are responsible for the majority of health services in the city of Southampton, comments, complaints or compliments about GP services should be sent directly to the service provider or to NHS England, as NHS England hold the contacts for GP practices. You can contact NHS England on 0300 311 2233 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”