Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery
59 Bedford Road, Marston Moretaine, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK43 0LAContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Hopeless system for appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 18 March 2025
Having waited over 20 minutes in position 8 in the phone queue, I was told there were no appointments available. When I asked how this was possible when only 7 people were in front of me I was told others may have used the online system which opens 15 mins earlier. I had gone onto this system and it clearly states it kay be several days before it is looked at and not to use it for urgent appointments. When I informed the receptionist of this I was told there was nothing she could do and to try again tomorrow with no guarantee of an appointment then either. This process needs urgent review by the management of Marston Forest Healthcare.
Visited March 2025
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Exclusionary preferential online service.
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 04 February 2025
I find it quite unacceptable that in order to get an appointment with your doctor you need to use their preferential online service. This is not made clear when you call them. This is also a exclusionary for those that cannot use online services either due to online education or English as a second language needs. I called at 8am. Was 21st in the queue. It tool 30 minutes to get through to a person, only to be told there are no appointments available. Mathematically 1 doctor seeing 10 minute appointments with 5 minutes admin time, can low ball see 4 patients and hour. Over, again low ball 5 hours per day. That's 20 appointments per day. So the whole medical group across both Marston and Cranfield surgeries only has 1 GP!!!. Or the online service has filled the appointments before 8am. I will say the staff are lovely and professional. The management/owner that chose this procedure clearly do not understand the needs of the community. This is an exclusionary, discriminatory, ineffective and inefficient process, designed for a surgery with only 1 GP for day appointments and 1 GP for pre booked appointments. This surgery is not a 2 GP setup. Please make your GPs available to all instead of gatekeeping the medical services away from the more vulnerable members of our community. Thank you
Visited February 2025
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Near impossible to speak with a doctor at Marston Healthcare
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Tim - Posted on 27 January 2025
The Anima online service is flawed, if not broken. The time limit given to fill out the extensive questionnaire for each ailment is most often overridden by the practice running out of appointments before you are able to complete the convoluted form. At which point it offers to save so you could continue the next day - but on return you find it has not saved so the process repeats. On some occasions when I have had more severe (but not emergency symptoms) the service says it is an emergency and I should seek emergency care - when a condition has been ongoing for weeks so is clearly not an emergency - I Just Want To Speak With A Doctor! When I attempted to contact the practice and explain the online service was not allowing me to reach an appointment, they kindly offered for me to call at 8am and they would assist. At which point I am in a queue of 36 and by the time I get through to reception, all appointments are gone and they recommend the online service. While I do not blame the practice for the supply/demand of doctors, the practice does not offer relief to emergency services when it leaves no other option for its patients to seek an opinion on a serious but not emergency condition! This has been a constant issue for me as a local resident since I arrived 2 years ago.
Visited January 2025
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Cannot book an appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 28 January 2025
Needed an urgent appointment for my son. My husband called at 8 but they were full. Online booking wouldn't work and we were told to ring back the following day. Called in the afternoon and was advised to call 111 as they save 111 appointments. We did this and just had a text to say they were full. I called again to attempt to book an appointment and I was told they only do on the day appointments. I am a teacher in a Sen school, this is not an option for me. We contacted 111 again who triaged and arranged an appointment at urgent care in Bedford, where I am currently sitting. An absolutely appalling service, particularly for a child who may need an urgent referral to the hospital.
Visited January 2025
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled What's the point
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Julie Barnard - Posted on 06 October 2024
What is the point of having an appointment time for your flu jab? You turn up on time and stand there and stand there and stand there waiting for your name to be called, half an hour past your appointment time you are still waiting I told them I'd waited long enough and I was going home, I said no more as I did not wish to be rude and tell them exactly what a total waste of time they were. Really What is the Point?
Visited October 2024
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled They just don't 'get it' about the patient experience
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 October 2024
I have been trying to move from this practice, but it is impossible to find another g.p. practice willing to take on patients outside of their registration area. I have experienced some irritation, even aggression, from g.p's when I present more than an isolated symptom at a time. They rely upon i.t. to do much of their professional work. I cringed when I heard that the minister was advocating that i.t. is an answer to the 'broken n.h.s'. I.t. has its place, but it is important to resolve the patient-avoidance culture amongst some medical staff. At the moment, it isn't easy for Marston patients to present new symptoms and receive a comprehensive diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Contact is mainly surgery to patient. Specific 'reviews' of only existing medication and treatments. As an older person, it is several years since I had a check up. I have been questioned, 2 minutes max, whilst receiving the flu vaccination. Am I cynical to think that was claimed as a check up? 'Seniors' used to have the reassurance of health reviews each year. I agree with another reviewer, that the arrangements for vaccination are primitive. Despite having booked 'appointments', patients are herded in the (staff) car park, then called in, one by one, like a school roll-call. One very elderly lady with poor mobility, was being held up by her carer (perhaps daughter?) They were both in pain and distressed. A chair had been requested: there was nowhere for her to sit. Humiliating. There is no patient parking near the premises. Since refurbishment, it is staff parking only. Patient parking is the roadside, or in the car parks near the 2 Co-op shops. Those places are quickly taken up when there are special clinics e.g. for vaccinations. Many people who had 'booked' appointment times for their vaccinations were unable to park, so couldn't attend their appointments. This is just another example of where patient interests are not fully explored and taken into account in the planning of these clinics. Very inefficient. Further reference to i.t: 'Anima' is yet another barrier to many patients. Not everybody has i.t. access. Not everybody who has it is able to navigate such a system. I thought that Anima had been abandoned nationally? My recent contacts from the surgery have all been about whether I still need the medications and treatments that have been prescribed for me, for life, by consultants. Clearly, I have become too expensive for this practice. The Marston surgery is a lovely building, it must have been expensive to refurbish, however, the smart looks have done nothing to provide better services to patients. I just despair of ever being able to receive the level of patient care, concern and kindness that we experienced with the previous 'regime'. If any practice or treatment is questioned, the level of indifference or antagonism increases. I am not talking about the receptionists. They are often cool, but remain polite and informative. Poor g.p. practice.
Visited October 2024
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Unable to get an appointment
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 19 October 2023
I cannot book an online appointment - every time over the last few years, no appointment slots have shown. This morning, I called the surgery at precisely 8:30am to book a telephone appointment but got an automated message saying the surgery was not open. I then hung up and rang back immediately to get an automated message saying that all the appointments for the day had been taken. Later in the day, I rang the surgery regarding how I could book an appointment only to be told that I need to call in the morning at 8:30am. I am now unable to book an appointment at all. Cannot recommend this surgery
Visited October 2023
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Not fit for practice.
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 09 October 2023
I have lived in many areas with obviously different GPs and never experienced such a strange 'service'. Erratic is probably the best way to describe them. It's as if they couldn't be less interested in health care. Trying to get through their system is near on impossible, for example they take forever to respond to (if at all) to communications, when my partner required a blood test and was told to collect a form from the surgery the staff refused to let them collect it even though they (my partner was in the reception) because it was busy and told to call the reception! You would expect that a surgery with a high volume of elderly people would have some understanding of the effect and effort it takes to get there and be as careing and helpful as possible. It appears that their whole setup is devised to discourage people from using them. I would recommend that they as a surgery hold an urgent consultation/review/meeting with a reasonably sized group of their patients to devise an improvement strategy. The views I have mentioned in this review are not just my own but widely held about the practice. Sorry for being so blunt but unfortunately it needs saying.
Visited October 2023
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled very poor service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 29 August 2023
I moved house 18 months ago. It has taken me 8 months to register with the surgery. Now I am registered, I have called to book appointment to have my prescription medicine reinstated in teh portal but it is taken weeks . Several calls at 8.30am in the morning - waiting on the queue for up to 1 hour, no more space to see or speak with GP, the appointments scheduled and those appointments cannot be found in their system. So sad and disappointing. Typical example is call on 25 August, waited for 50 minutes, appointment booked for GP to call me on 29 August. There was no call and when I called the surgery, I was told that there is no record of my call to the Surgery and no appointment booked. is there another surgery that I can be directed to please?
Visited August 2023
Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery has not yet replied.
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Review titled Need to add high priority to emergency calls
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 April 2023
If I could rate 0 I would. I tired 2 days in a row called 8.30 on the dot to only be in a queue of 20 plus. Then finally finding out they had zero appointments. Fyi this was for my 1 year old with severe chest infection and temp of 42. They advised 111 and was told if I went to urgent care I would be prioritised. 111 couldn't get me an appointment at Marston so I ended up going to urgent care and they did not at all prioritise. I was left in a waiting room for 6 hours. First time I've felt really let down. Was only offered antibiotics, this should have been easy through GP and saved me and my daughter a very stressful day.
Visited April 2023
Review titled Marston Surgery - Cranfield and Marston Surgery
Replied on 11 April 2023
Dear Patient. Thank you for your feedback. Please be assured that we take all patient feedback very seriously. We hope our response helps to address your concerns and provides you with the assurance that our Partnership has taken this complaint seriously. I am very sorry that the service you experienced fell short of the model we strive to deliver to our patients. I have acknowledged your comments, and I would like to clarify our position at the surgery. We do understand the needs of our patients and we would like to reassure you that patient care is paramount and at no time is patient care comprised. Our Practice is currently offering the maximum number of appointments that we can safely provide our patients. There will always be a limit of appointments that any Practice is able to provide for their patients in accordance with available resources of time, rooms, personnel, and often demand for our services exceeds the capacity and resources that we have. As I hope you will understand, General Practices across the UK are facing un precedented level of demand for their services, caused by additional factors, such as population growth. I am sorry that you have experienced high call volumes at the time of calling the Practice on separate occasions. I appreciate that when the phone lines are busy, this can cause some frustration. I also appreciate that at times you have been unsuccessful in securing a same day appointment with an appropriate clinician. That said, we do have limited availability for patients to pre-book an appointment two days in advance with an appropriate clinician, should they not be successful in securing a same day appointment. I am sorry if you were not given this option at the time of your call. To support patients further, the Practice participates in Extended Access, where an appointment can be made via the Practice between the hours of 18:30-20:00 Monday to Sunday, subject to availability. Patients also have the option to call NHS 111 for medical advice for non-urgent or non-life-threatening concerns, which you have accessed on this occasion. We are sorry that NHS111 did not prioritise your child, however, this concern we ask you to discuss with NHS 111 directly. We have also launched a new online consultation platform, Doctrin, where patient access to the Practice has improved significantly. Please contact the Practice directly where we will be happy to discuss your concerns further Lisa Marotta Practice Manager