Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Larksfield & Arlesey Surgery, Arlesey Road, Stotfold, Hitchin, SG5 4HBContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
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Reviews
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Review titled Additional adjective
Rated 1 star out of 5
by John F Gardner - Posted on 22 February 2023
Having taken the time to add 2 reviews , of which only has been accepted, I find it necessary, unfortunately , to post yet another . Having waited for the promised phone appointment since 9am the phone finally activates at 2.30pm . After the mandatory introductions my first question to the Doctor was .. How much time is a patient actually afforded for a phone appointment ? The reply came back rudely .. You get 10 minutes and you should know that !! My reply to that rudeness was simple in that if I knew that was the case I wouldnt be so stupid as to ask the question . The adjective , rude , can sit quite uncomfortably amongst others on this review section including , awful , overstretched , terrible , shambolic , incompetent , and several more too !!! . In all honesty I have never ever been told by anyone at Larkfield Surgery that 10 minutes was a maximum time allowed for a phone appointment . I am truly astounded that any intelligent Doctor can behave in such a fashion . As a betting man by nature I bet there is not one single patient attached to Larksfield that has ever been informed by anyone at the surgery that 10 minutes was a maximum time allowed for a phone app.. I rest my case !!
Visited February 2023
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 02 March 2023
The practice have declined to comment on these reviews as we do not feel the feedback is constructive in any way and is demoralising to our team who work extremely hard in challenging circumstances. If you have an individual complaint please write to us following our complaints procedure before online comments regarding our team lead to a relationship breakdown.
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Review titled Have no idea how to treat patients
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Adrian Everton - Posted on 08 February 2023
After over 3 weeks, I am still waiting for the result of my x-ray. As I am abroad until 1 March, I have been trying to get an appointment with a GP on my return but I have received no communication from the surgery. If I wait until my return, I will not get an appointment until April. I have had chronic pain in my hand since last June and I really need to have some early treatment. But how???????
Visited January 2023
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 20 February 2023
Good afternoon Adrian We have tried to contact you on the numbers we have listed today and will try again tomorrow
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Review titled Disappointed
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 11 January 2023
After waiting a week for a telephone consultation with a nurse, then a further 5 days for a telephone consultation with a GP I was eventually invited in for an actual GP appointment one week later. Considering how hard it is to get an appointment I had a couple of problems I needed to discuss, I was totally shocked when the GP sighed at me, not what I expected at all. I am not a frequent user of the surgery only for repeat prescriptions which I do online. Where has the compassion/care gone, very sad times
Visited January 2023
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 12 January 2023
We are sorry to hear you had difficulty obtaining an appointment and that your consultation was unsatisfactory . To enable us to investigate this fully please could you complete a complaints form through our website or in our reception area .
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Review titled Painfully awful
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 05 December 2022
I saw a locum doctor who thought my extremely traumatic experience was funny. He took 10mins to fail to write me a sick note as he couldn’t use the computer. He also said he’d arranged a call for me from a psychiatric nurse - which it appears he didn’t. I’m beginning to wonder if it was just an actor and not a doctor at all. I might take the whole experience to a formal complaint.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 December 2022
Please contact the surgery directly using our complaints procedure so that we can fully investigate this matter on your behalf. You can download a complaints pack on our website or collect from the reception area .
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Review titled Impossible to get a appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 22 December 2022
Completly useless policy of appointments on the day only. Held in queue for hours to be told ‘none available.’ Every morning this is the same. Unfit for purpose
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 December 2022
Good morning we do offer pre - bookable appointments. Unfortunately these go very quickly once released . Current BMA and local guidance during winter pressures is that practices move towards on the day appointments to help with high demand across all systems . Our teams try to accommodate both system requests and patient requests . We advise all patients to register with online services to help us manage this demand and book online rather than telephone .You can access both on the day an advance appointments online
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Review titled couldn't get any worse
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 21 December 2022
I have been trying to get an appointment with a GP for the past three weeks. Couldn't hold on for more than one hour as I'm on a customer facing team. I have tried their number six times in the past three weeks. No joy. If I do that to any one of our customers, I will be sacked by my employer for letting a client hold on to the phone for more than ten minutes. The service is diabolical. There is no other way to get an appointment. On-line booking system is farcical, there are no slots or it doesn't work.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 December 2022
Please contact the surgery directly to reset your online passwords. Our online booking system is fully working
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Review titled Impossible to get an appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 06 December 2022
Have tried for several weeks now to get an appointment to see a GP. Calling at 8am and checking online. I am yet to be quick enough to see any of the online appointments. Calling at 8 daily only to get down the queue to be repeatedly cut off. This morning I got to 2nd in the queue before the line dropped. Last week on one day I was on the line waiting for 1hr and 45mins before the line dropped. There is absolutely no point then redialling as you will certainly not get an appointment. Just another morning wasted. Call later on in the day only to be told you just have to try again the next morning. No availability to do an e-consult or callback.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 14 December 2022
Good afternoon We are very sorry to hear about your experience . We are currently experiencing high volumes of staff sickness . We are also currently recruiting and training new staff we are aware that there is a current delay in answering calls and we do apologise for this . We are doing all we can to release more online services and improve patient experience
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Review titled Poor telephone service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 December 2022
I waited 55 minutes on hold and as soon as I got through to the surgery they hung up on me and I didnt get my appointment. I have tried to book online but there are no slots available in the timeframes on offer. I then called the line again only to be told I was number 42 in the que. This is not acceptable
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 14 December 2022
Good afternoon We are very sorry to hear about your experience . We are currently experiencing high volumes of staff sickness . We are also currently recruiting and training new staff we are aware that there is a current delay in answering calls and we do apologise for this . We are doing all we can to release more online services and improve patient experience
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Review titled Very Poor
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by James - Posted on 16 December 2022
It’s not the staffs fault who are very polite but you cannot get an appointment. It’s impossible. I don’t know how many GPS they have but it can’t be more than 1 or 2 for a huge region.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 December 2022
Good morning we currently offer 47 GP sessions a week across our sites. We are trying to recruit long term salaried G.P's for consistency however our current locums provide a very good service . We are building our multi disciplinary team to support patients and clinicians as recruitment of G.P's is a national problem . Our Primary Care network also offers appointments for patients access . Shortly we will be removing patients out of area who have been with the surgery historically , we hope this workstream frees up access for local patients to some extent while we continue to recruit .
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Review titled Phones unanswered
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 10 December 2022
Rang to get an appointment at 8 am, was on hold for 2 hours, finally got to the end of the queue and was cut off. Rang back, waited an hour on hold, finally got my call answered and was given an appointment. A few days later someone from the surgery rang back and left me an answer phone message to cancel my appointment and asked me to ring the surgery back to book another! As if the cost of the phone calls wasn't enough in the first place I then ended up taking unpaid time off work and doing an hour round trip to visit the practice only to be told I could only get one if I rang in at 8 am the next day. I was then asked (in the very quiet waiting room) if I could tell them know exactly what the problem was and why I needed an appointment, this was in front of 3 people waiting (one of which had already contributed to my conversation about the wait as they had had a similar experience so they could obviously hear what I was saying). As this was very personal information I was not happy to provide this and politely declined. Eventually, I managed to persuade someone to allocate me an appointment and I was sent an appointment text message at 8 am the next day with a time of 14:55 for that day. Unfortunately, I had been up all night with a stomach bug so I was unable to attend so I tried to call the surgery again to cancel. I held for another hour on the phone and then gave up - my husband also tried for me later too and he waited for an hour on the phone and, like me, gave up too. We then found a form on the Larksfield website which I filled in to cancel instead. It was a good few hours before the appointment so plenty of notice given to allocate this appointment to someone else. I then received a text to say that I hadn't attended my appointment. Presumably, this will go on my notes and look bad when I rebook, if I ever manage to get another appointment, that is! :-( Very odd that there are relatively few people waiting in the waiting room and no phones can be heard ringing in the background. It is almost too quiet there now, personal information can easily be overheard and is not confidential at all. During lockdown the service provided by the practice was fantastic - there was an econsult process in place. Please Larksfield, if you are not going to answer the phone then please, please bring this service back!
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 14 December 2022
Good afternoon we were sorry to read of your experience .As your review is anonymous we are unable to investigate the circumstances could you please write to us using our complaints pack so that we can fully investigate