The Devonshire Practice portsmouth

Use to think they were a great surgery but over the last few months its almost impossible to get an appointment...there is no system in place at all other than calling that day at 8.30 which you can never get through and when you do no appointments, regardless how urgent your care is. I have mental health problems and all it does is push you away from getting the help needed, recently wrote a letter just so i can inform a doctor of how important it is i get help and i never even got a phonecall. I would not go back to this surgery again knowing how they make you feel, and just stay with my issues regardless of how urgent it is, because it feels like they dont care.

Absolutely disgusted with the treatment of my wife. Very stressful time and the receptionists were lacking in feeling, empathy, helpfulness or even information. She needed blood tests done and told to come in. Turns out the blood person is on holiday and so after waiting 2 hours couldn’t get them done anyway. Why wasn’t this said at the beginning when she said she needed blood tests?? Simple questions on future bookings were then unanswered and paper slips were just passed across the desk with follow up questions ignored. My wife left in tears.

Historically this was an amazing surgery with kind and attentive doctors, easy booking processes and excellent cleanliness. But in the last couple of months the doctors all retired, now the surgery are struggling to issue appointments or keep up with the workload and honestly the place has fallen apart. It saddens me that i have had to leave, they have helped me through some of the worst stages of my life but until they can sort out their business, stay away.

it's impossible to book an appointment and you can only get one on a day if you are well enough to queue outside for 30 minutes before the surgery opens. I've never been able to call in in the morning and get an appointment as by the time I get thru , all appointments are taken by people who turned up at the surgery. For some reason staff do not offer routine and urgent Lake Road appointments. Current doctors are very good but staff at the reception have gone pass caring which is very sad to see.

There are no routine appointments available which puts me off seeing a GP for less urgent conditions as I don't want to take up an urgent slot. The slots they do have go very quickly so I usually queue outside before they open which is less than ideal. That being said, all the GP's, bar one locum, have been kind, patient and diligent. I think if people understood just how difficult it is to recruit new GP's and how hard the current ones work they would be more sympathetic.

Needed a GP close to my house, was a bit worried after reading the comments. Was pleasantly surprised! The front office quickly assigned the dates and helped me out, the Doctor called me first thing on Friday morning and gave me an appointment for Monday! Everyone was polite and helpful 10/10

i tried to call them many times, high waiting times. i get to talk to someone and they rush through with no idea of how to help. i wanted an appointment to get an assessment for diagnosis. they recommend 111, or online then hung up. i tried online and i have to now register with that practice to use the online facility. i dont think i can go into the practice to register. i went to the devonshire avenue practice and a notice on the door said, "only appointments are allowed in", i did not have an appointment. it seems like a catch 22 situation. to register you have to go into a practice and to get into a practice you have to have an appointment , to get an appointment you have to be registe....the nhs died.

Since it joined the Lighthouse group everything gone down the hill. Almost, impossible to get any appointments. Once I rang 73 times to get through and was 13th in a queue just to hear thats no appointments for today. Next day was the same and I decided to use pharmacy for urgent advice so pointless to ring the GP if they do not help . Old practice was more helpful and accommodating, now it seems like a business project for someone to make money. Sorry but very disappointed with current situation of my practice I use to trust and love .

October 2020 - Rubbish. My personal view is ever since becoming the Lighthouse Practice the place has hit the rocks and the service is dreadful. All the work seems to be put on the poor underpaid and overworked staff at the pharmacy opposite and local hospitals. To get an appointment you have to do everything online which 25% of the people that go there probably aren't able to do and getting a phone appointment is pretty much impossible. The admin staff are nowhere near as helpful as they used to be. The only thing holding this place together is the quality of the doctors and nurses. When you buy a new house you look at all the services close by i.e schools, docs, etc. If you are looking at this practice then please look at all the recent reviews.

Great service from a happy friendly doctor, wish I could see you more