We are continually looking to turn patient feedback into real improvements in the services we provide. We use it to focus on the things that matter most to our patients, carers and their families.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I book an appointment at Hall Green Health?
The easiest way to book an appointment is to fill out the online request form on our website. We aim to reply to all online requests within 1 working day, so the form should not be used for emergencies.
You can request an appointment by telephone however we receive a very high number of calls each day, meaning waiting times can be long. This is why we ask everyone who has web access to submit their requests online, leaving the phone lines for urgent problems and people who can’t use the internet.
Please include a good amount of detail in your request, as we will not be able to process it without.
What happens when I have requested an appointment?
All requests are reviewed by a clinician, who will decide one the best way to handle it, as well as how urgent the problem is. They will then offer one the following:
- An appointment with a GP or AHP (see below), either on the same day (for urgent problems), or in the next few days or weeks (for routine problems).
- Treatment or advice without the need for an appointment, for simple problems
- Advice to contact services such as the local pharmacy or urgent treatment centre
- Advice to attend A&E if your problem is an emergency or too serious to be managed by a GP
Why can’t I book an appointment directly online or through Patient Access?
All appointment requests must be reviewed before booking, to make sure they are managed and directed correctly, and that our appointments are given to those who need them most.
We aim to direct patients to the right place or person, first time around, and avoid waste of expert clinician time. We feel the current system for booking appointments is the best way to do this.
Why can I not request an appointment in person at the front desk?
As above, all requests must be reviewed by a clinician. If our front desk staff took appointment requests, they would have to leave the desk to talk to the clinician each time, leading to long queues in the reception area for people who already have appointments or other queries.
Why have I not been booked an appointment on the same day?
The clinician reviewing your request will decide whether it needs to be seen urgently or can safely wait for a number of days or weeks. By booking less urgent problems on future days, we can keep a safe number of on-the-day appointments for people who need urgent assessment.
Why don’t you have more appointments to offer?
There is currently a national shortage of GPs, which has gotten worse due to the recent pandemic. Hall Green Health is a GP surgery and not a walk-in centre or A&E department; when we are full, we are not able to see any more patients. If we did, our clinicians would not have enough time to fully assess and manage each patient, which would not be safe.
Why has my appointment not been booked with a GP?
To provide the best possible service for our patients, the Partners of Hall Green Health have appointed the following Additional Healthcare Professionals (AHPs) to support us:
- paramedics
- physician associates
- advanced nurse practitioners
- clinical nurse specialists
- a mental health practitioner
- a first contact physiotherapist
Each of these clinicians are important members of our team and have valuable skills and knowledge that may equally or better suit your needs than a GP. If needed, they always have access to supervision and advice from the on-call GP.
We use the skills of our extended clinical team appropriately so that our GP appointments are available for problems that cannot be managed by anybody else.
I have been booked a telephone consultation, why can’t I see my GP face to face?
A lot of problems can be assessed over the phone, as specific symptoms often can tell us enough about what’s happening to make a diagnosis or suggest further tests. The person reviewing your appointment request can assess whether your problem might need to be managed in person if so, book a face-to-face appointment straight away.
If you have a telephone consultation and the clinician feels they need to see you in person after hearing your symptoms, they can also book this themselves.
By offering telephone and video consultations, we can give our patients a way to receive care that is easier for them as it doesn’t require the time, effort or cost of coming to us in person. It also avoids having lots of people sitting in the waiting room at once, in turn avoiding the spread of infectious diseases to our vulnerable patients and staff members.
If you would still like to submit feedback, please complete our Feedback Form.
If your intention is to make a formal complaint, please do not complete the above feedback form. We request that formal complaints are made in writing and submitted either by post or in person. This is to ensure that we can prioritise your concerns appropriately.
Please do not use this form for anything but submitting feedback.
If you would like an appointment, please click here. Please note that you will need to set up an account. If you have a prescription query, please click here.
Giving feedback
To provide feedback:
Making a complaint
We aim to provide you with the best possible medical service. At times you may feel that we have not achieved this and want to make your feelings known. Most problems can be sorted out quickly and easily, often at the time they arise with the person concerned and this may be the approach you try first.
Where you are not able to resolve your complaint in this way and wish to make a formal complaint you should do so, preferably within writing, as soon as possible after the event and ideally within a few days as this helps us to establish what happened more easily.
The period for making a complaint is normally:
- 12 months from the date on which the event which is the subject of the complaint occurred
- 12 months from the date on which the event which is the subject of the complaint comes to the complainant’s notice
If you are a registered patient, you can complain about your own care.
Complaints can be sent in writing to:
Hall Green Health, Stratford Road
979 Stratford Road
Hall Green
Birmingham
B28 8BG
More information can be found in our full Complaints Policy document.
Complaining on behalf of someone else
We keep to the strict rules of medical and personal confidentiality.
If you wish to make a complaint but are not the patient involved, we will require the written consent of the patient. This is to confirm that they are unhappy with their treatment and that we can deal with someone else about it.
Please ask at reception for a complaints form which includes a statement of authority that the patient can sign. Where the patient is incapable of providing consent due to illness or accident, it may still be possible to deal with the complaint. Please provide the precise details of the circumstances which prevent this in your covering letter. Please note that we are unable to discuss any issue relating to someone else without their express permission, which must be in writing, unless the above circumstances apply.
Confidentiality
All complaints must be treated in the strictest confidence.
Where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of the patient’s medical records, the practice manager must inform the patient or person acting on his or her behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the practice or an employee of the practice.
The surgery must keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints but such records must be kept separate from the patient’s medical records.
The surgery has an annual review of complaints received within the year and the learning issues or changes to procedures which have arisen are documented.