Nhs walk in centre broad lane

[Daven 10]

I went to the walk in centre and was told 1 hours wait. It took 3 1/2 hours! That is so wrong. I didn.t find the nurse that polite either and left really annoyed. My second visit I took some office work with me to occupy my time and got seen straight away with really pleasant staff.

 

If I went again and there was a queque I would be hard pressed to wait. It is not the waiting but the thought of being told 1 hour when they mean 3 hours. If they tell you 3 hours and mean it then fair enough its your choice but 1 hour becoming 3 hours is enough to get any ones blood boiling.

 

If you're not prepared to wait the time required then I would hazard a guess that you're not that ill and could have easily seen your GP in hours.

The walk in centre is for people who are ill out of hours - not because their GP is not convenient for them.

People abuse the NHS and then complain about having to wait !

Edited June 6, 2011 by Daven

[rich951 10]

And you would be right - it will treat those who have had an accident, or those who are an emergency, or commonly both. It does rather depend on those presenting to be able to recognise that a minor injury is neither of those.

 

However since there are a number of people who do get minor injuries which are distressing but are not yet an emergency you have walk in centres - but again it needs a little bit of sense from people to use them right.

Well no, those with minor injuries should go to the minor injuries unit at the RHH... (and to be honest I'd probably always go there unless it was a life-threatening injury, we've been with some horrifically broken bones or dislocations and been looked after well every time)

[Obelix 11]

Well no, those with minor injuries should go to the minor injuries unit at the RHH... (and to be honest I'd probably always go there unless it was a life-threatening injury, we've been with some horrifically broken bones or dislocations and been looked after well every time)

 

Does Broad Lane not do fractures and sprains etc then? I can only go on the ones I've seen in Leeds which do cater for them, and if it's complicated etc pack you off to LGI anyway. The last time I seriously was using A&E in Sheffield was when the RHH still had it's main centre and it was taking students from the Uni after lab accidents.

[alternageek 10]

Only in this country would people moan about a free at the point of use, walk in, no sign up required health care centre.

 

You would struggle to find anything similar anywhere else in the world. Not one which didn't want your credit card or insurance details.

 

These people who criticise public services are generally the same ones who moan about paying tax. It didn't fall off a tree you know.

 

This is the post of the thread.

[Joe Momma 10]

Been in twice - both on a Sunday a'noon/tea .... in & out in 15 minutes tops and to Wicker for medicines / ear drops .... excellent place.

[natzzz 10]

I didn't attend the Broad lane one but did attend the GP centre at NGH this was Saturday night.

 

I am 27 weeks pregnant and was suffering abdominal pains. I waited for over 2 hours to be seen due to people who were using the service as a more convenient way of seeing a doctor.

 

One snotty (very vocal) woman in particular who kept announcing the system was disgusting, the doctors were over paid, she wouldn't be there unless she needed to be and that she had been suffering with her cough for weeks and couldn't take it another night.

Why didn't she visit her own doctor during the week?

She then came out after being seen by the doctor waving a prescription like a winning lottery ticket and coughing until the doctor and staff were out of ear shot!

 

Obviously not that I think people abuse this free service

 

After being seen I was admitted to the NGH with suspected appendicitis. I cant thank the staff there enough for seeing me and putting up with everything that they do to provide a service that should not be taken for granted.

[xgrifterx 10]

the place is run via a contract with a private firm, and staff from RHH old walk in work there too now the 'centres' have merged. you can always 'complain' to NHS Sheffield ( the PCt as was) direct about the walk in centre and any issue - they hold the contract with the private company and performance is monitored, problems and complaints dealt with etc as part of this. NHS Sheffield have staff who monitor comments on thsi forum, so lets see if they pick up on this thread.

 

my family used the walk in centre on Good Friday. there were over 80 people waiting to be seen. (the receptionist were loudly telling everyone' theres only one doctor here what do you expect?')

the idea is that you are triaged,seen by a nurse prescriber/practitioner or seen by a doctor. What is very very wrong is that the receptionist were triaging patients - they are not medical staff and should not be doing this. Everyone was waiting 2 HOURS to be triaged, depsite being told 20 minutes.

 

No patient should ever wait more than 30 minutes to be triaged - that is the whole blooming point of it, to see who needs treating, now, in a mo, in a bit and in a while. NHS SHeffield need to know patients are not be triaged within guideline times and that this is often being done by receptionist.

 

When we saw the nurse prescriber/practitioner her knowledge was shockingly poor, she couldnt spell medication names, told us she had 'absolutely no idea' how to treat the person concerned and she was far too busy stating 'well i could have referred you if we'd still been up at RHH but i cant since we moved here'....

 

there was a 'consultation' about moving the RHH Walk In Centre to Broad Lane in Jan 2010, run by NHS SHeffield. despite the huge number of public objections to the move and closure of the RHH site, NHS Sheffield still went ahead and did the move. A fait au complet? Yes, a given, definately despite public opinion being opposite- the building on Broad lane had already been complete for a year, with all that 'extra space' (spare clinic rooms, reinforced floors for heavy equipment, extra offices etc, design of patient flow already in place for patient movement etc) needed by RHH Walk In Centre to move into all ready and waiting. It was going to happen, regardless of opinion, regardless of contract obligations etc.

 

what does work well, is the aspect of the centre that functions as a GP surgery for local residents. that is well managed and works well. the rest is a bit of a shambles and NHS SHeffield need to work the private company into shape to provide a proper service for Sheffield.

 

xgx

[helen42788 10]

Only in this country would people moan about a free at the point of use, walk in, no sign up required health care centre.

 

You would struggle to find anything similar anywhere else in the world. Not one which didn't want your credit card or insurance details.

 

These people who criticise public services are generally the same ones who moan about paying tax. It didn't fall off a tree you know.

 

Free! Have you never had a job? Never paid into the system? It's far from free! Please do some research before posting.

[helen42788 10]

Dear me aren't you feeling your beans today. I display a general garment and you claim it's been cut to your particular fit. Guilty conscience?

 

Let me put it simply. You are the problem. You fail to understand what A&E is for by misunderstanding who can go. Your comments indicate that you consider the walk in centre to be an acceptable replacement for a GP visit.

 

Let me wise you up. They are not. They complement the GP services by providing more convenient locations for urgent referrals - if you use them to replace your GP because it's more convenient to you - as you said in post 12 and I repeat below

 

"If you want an appointment, call your GP. - I don't want an appointment hence the reason for the WALK-IN centre!"

 

It's not a replacement. If you are using it as a replacement you are abusing it. the Walk in centres don't take off minor stuff that you see a GP for. Now I've been trying to gently nudge you into realising this but you haven't - you went off half cocked so all you accomplish is to look foolish.

 

You haven't been charged for this lesson. I just hope you can learn from it.

 

 

Oh dear, you just went from a general comment to a personal one

Edited June 6, 2011 by helen42788

[Vulcan B2 10]

I think they might officially discourage vending machines - just in case someone presents with something that needs anesthesia say and they wouldn't want to do that on a full stomach.

 

Fair point, altho the A&E dept at the Northern General has several vending machines for both food and drinks. Also, you would see a whole family waiting when perhaps only one member of that family needed attention. I remember having young kids and it was a nightmare if you didn't carry around food and drinks for them! And as you're liable to be waiting for a long time at busy times, I feel it would be a good idea.

[Plain Talker 11]

Does Broad Lane not do fractures and sprains etc then? I can only go on the ones I've seen in Leeds which do cater for them, and if it's complicated etc pack you off to LGI anyway. The last time I seriously was using A&E in Sheffield was when the RHH still had it's main centre and it was taking students from the Uni after lab accidents.

 

I had to use the RHH minor injuries on Friday teatime, after stupidly tearing my big toenail off by trapping it in a door ( Don't ask!! ) and I was in and out in half an hour, treated, (and treated wonderfully), with the injury checked, cleaned and dressed. in fact I think it took longer to get there, than it did to get seen! the staff were ace, just fantastic.

 

I don't believe the broad lane facility do fractures:- sprains yes, and other ailments (boils, infections coughs, etc etc)

 

 

t

my family used the walk in centre on Good Friday. there were over 80 people waiting to be seen. (the receptionist were loudly telling everyone' theres only one doctor here what do you expect?')

the idea is that you are triaged,seen by a nurse prescriber/practitioner or seen by a doctor. What is very very wrong is that the receptionist were triaging patients - they are not medical staff and should not be doing this. Everyone was waiting 2 HOURS to be triaged, depsite being told 20 minutes.

 

No patient should ever wait more than 30 minutes to be triaged - that is the whole blooming point of it, to see who needs treating, now, in a mo, in a bit and in a while. (snippage)

 

Well, firstly it was Good Friday... need I say more? (ok, then:- every other GP's surgery in the area was closed down for the bank holiday)

 

Secondly, if there were eighty others waiting, then, erm, it's to be expected that there will be something of a wait. triaged or not:- to see someone within thirty minutes will surely mean less than 30 seconds per patient-per-triage. And unless there's say, a visible amputation, you can't assess/ triage an injury in that amount of time.

 

Thirdly, the Broad Lane facility is the only one, AFAIK, of its kind, in Sheffield (GP collective at the NGH aside) so this is where everyone and their grandpas who need help will be coming to.

 

Fourthly, the Broad Lane facility and the RHH facility merged around the time of the Easter bank holiday weekend. maybe the alleged chaos you experienced was part of that the RHH folk had just moved there?

 

I've needed to go to the Broad Lane facility a couple of times, and found them great. Yes, there's something of a wait, sometimes, but it serves a dual role, it's an ordinary GP practice as well as being a drop in, so there are the patients who will be there having booked appointments, as well as the people who have dropped in to seek help or advice.

 

Of course, sod's law says that the tooth you break is never going to happen whilst the dentist's surgery is open. It's always going to be out of hours.

 

your kids are never going to start throwing up, unless it's the middle of the night:- they're kids, it's their job.

 

Falls, cuts, and sprains will happen, and coughs will always come on about ten minutes after the doctors' surgery has shut for the weekend. (and that's when you have a GP surgery that doesn't need you to know six weeks in advance that you are going to come down with a chest infection in order to book an appointment! lol)

[Daven 10]

Free! Have you never had a job? Never paid into the system? It's far from free! Please do some research before posting.

 

'Free at point of use' was the expression used.