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 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
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Review titled Appalling service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 19 December 2022
It is impossible to get an appointment at this surgery, either on the day or at any point in the future. In the last 3 weeks I have waited on hold for an appointment for my child for in excess of 90 minutes only to be cut off or told to try again tomorrow. There are no online appointments available at all. At one stage the receptionist asked what I expected as there were 80 calls waiting and one person answering the phone. This level of service is shocking and is genuinely putting people at risk. It is not possible to submit any negative feedback to the practise manager (this page online is not available), I would appreciate an update on how this service is going to improve moving forwards as it is stands it is totally unacceptable.
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 December 2022
Good morning or teams should be prioritising children with a triage appointment with our paramedic or priority GP . We are currently training new staff members If you are unable to attain an appointment for an unwell child please do explain to them the urgency or call 111 who will book directly in with us or advise us of any urgency during high demand
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Review titled No appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 16 December 2022
Calling at 8am for an appointment is useless, the average wait time is 1 hour. This year I have called on 3 or 4 occasions for my youngest son. Every time I have not been successful with an appointment after a long wait. The only alternative is to go to emergency services or call back the next working day at 8am again to be rejected after a long wait. The issue is not an emergency, so not best use of urgent care staff. Also that ends up being a long wait for a minor illness. How can this surgery be open to more patients when it cannot cope with existing demand?
Visited December 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 December 2022
Please do register for our online services appointments are released on the day at 8am. You can also visit your local pharmacy for non urgent minor illness advice . We would not advise you to go to the emergency services for non emergencies .
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Review titled hard to get thourgh
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by carol eaton Eaton - Posted on 25 November 2022
I Have been sent a letter to go to Bedford hospital for a dermatology appointment, this is a hard place to get to as the bus service were I live is bad. I did ask at the time it I could go to Lister hospital. There is no point in trying to ring the Larkfield as it take a hour to get a answer.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 28 November 2022
Good morning, Carol Our secretaries have reprocessed this for you and you should now receive details for Lister hospital. We hope your appointment goes well Kind regards
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Review titled Unprofessional receptionist
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 17 November 2022
I had the misfortune of getting through to the most unprofessional, rude and least empathetic receptionist when calling to ask how i resolve the fact that they appear to have lost my letter from the hospital requesting a prescription which in itself is surely a breach of data. The receptionist advised that they could see my history regarding my stillborn child and despite me advising them that i was currently a high risk pregnancy, and needed the medication on the ‘lost’ prescription was given nothing in the way of how to resolve this issue, that appears to be their mistake, and told ‘ i’m a receptionist what do you want me to do?’ People with this horrendous attitude have no business in a front facing customer role, much less one that involves dealing with ill and often anxious callers. Absolute definition of unprofessional and my query is still not resolved and i am left without my medication.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 21 November 2022
Good afternoon i would urge you to contact our Practice Manager who can investigate this matter on your behalf. We advise all hospital departments to send patient information electronically so that letters cannot be lost or undelivered in the post. If we have no record of your letter we cannot investigate this as a breach of data as we cannot track when or if it was posted by the department , breaches of data in this way are unusual but letters can easily be lost in the post hence our recent project of writing again to all hospital departments . It is disappointing to hear you feel the receptionist was unhelpful in dealing with your enquiry and we would welcome the opportunity to investigate unfortunately we cannot do so without your details being provided to our Practice Manager
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Review titled Poor confidentiality
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 15 November 2022
I was on the phone to the surgery for 33 minutes with no answer at 4pm. At this point I decided to drive to the surgery to speak to someone face to face. The reception was quiet with no phones ringing, the receptionist asked me how to help I asked for an apt with a nurse. At this point there were 7 people waiting in the waiting room and it was deadly silent. She then asked me what regarding, I said (quietly) I have an implant in my arm and would like it removing. She then says (at the top of her voice for everyone to hear) I need to visit sexual health clinic and will write down the name of iCash for me. She continued to say very loudly that this isn’t something they deal with it’s sexual health. She repeated this 3 or 4 times, at what point a lady with a baby walked in and was stood behind me as she was telling me to go to sexual health clinic. I was appalled. I left feeling so embarrassed and humiliated as everyone was looking at me. Further on from this, I had a call with 111 regarding a different issue and they advised me to call my doctor asap and left notes on the screen of my condition. 45 minutes I was ringing through for with no answer. The service here is appalling and I can’t believe this is how patients are treated.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 17 November 2022
We were sorry to hear of your experience in the reception and would like to assure you that we have updated our reception team in regard to this review. This is not what we would expect of our team when supporting patients with queries. Our telephone lines are under huge demand at the moment and we are prioritising recruitment in our reception area to be able to manage this demand
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Review titled Horrifically rude receptionist
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 November 2022
Today I have waited over an hour and half to get through to reception at Larksfield for an appointment for my teenage son (he hasn’t had a doctors appointment on over 10years!) - this was at 10am on a Thursday morning. After waiting a ridiculous amount of time I finally got through to a female receptionist. She told me there were no appointments, no emergency appointments and not to bother calling at this time again as it was a waste of my time & there were no appointments. I asked what other options I had as I work full time and had spent the past 90minutes on hold, she told me there was no point calling today or even the next day either. Her advice was to travel 15 miles to get an out of hours doctor appointment, she also stated there was no point me even coming to the surgery in the morning to get an appointment as it’s a joke & no appointments are offered! I ended the call however was absolutely disgusted with the lack of sympathy, care or regard for myself, my son or anyone else in this dire situation. People like this should not be employed in this role! I moved doctors over 4 years ago due to extremely bad service, poor practise & an awful experience from our previous doctors & now to receive this treatment it’s absolutely disgusting, poor & disappointing. Google reviews of the reception as well as practice need reviewing & actioned. As an hr manager in a customer experience sector the level of service is undeniable poor & would not be tolerated in any other organisation! I am absolutely appalled, cheesed off & now trying to support my 17 year old son whilst he’s unwell with no medical support, advice or even guidance.
Visited November 2022
Review titled Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Practice
Replied on 08 November 2022
We were sorry to read your recent review. We are currently experiencing staffing shortages at Larksfield and doing all we can to recruit. We have released far more appointments online although our appointments are usually gone by 10am each morning. We would advise your son registers with our online services to book this frees up our telephone lines for people who can't access these services and enables us to answer calls in a timely manner. We were pleased to hear our reception team were able to offer you an appointment elsewhere it's unfortunate that you weren't able to attend due to the distance. We do advise patients not to queue up in the mornings as telephone calls do take priority due to high volume. We have also seen an increase in abuse to our team with patients who attend in the mornings and are currently reviewing the walk-in service for this purpose. we are considering telephone and online appointments only to avoid abuse to our staff. We are unable to offer your son an appointment as your review is anonymous which means we cannot investigate any further. I do hope your son has recovered however please do make use of our online facilities if he still requires an appointment .