Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Nuffield Road, Chesterton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 1GLContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Pointless and useless service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 05 August 2024
Made a phone call to try and get a appointment with my gp as my physio advised me to, to be told no appointments today and say that the physio put in the letter in the future to get this appointment. Well when your symptoms are one of 2 things inflammatory problems or cancer I think it’s a pretty pressing issue to be told I’ve been put on the waiting list of 100 people to wait for a telephone appointment not even a face to face appointment. It says on this nhs page that they are taking on new patients well don’t bother because they won’t see or help the patients that they have, so why take on more that they can’t look after. I most certainly can’t recommend this practice as they lack so much care when it comes to the receptionist.
Visited August 2024
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 06 August 2024
Thank you for taking the time to raise your concerns. I am fully aware of the situation, and I think there are some aspects relating to your feedback which are important to mention to ensure an accurate reflection. I have looked at the documentation relating to this, and also listened to your call. We are of course very supportive of patients providing feedback, however it is important that the complaints are factual and accurate. I have outlined below the aspects omitted from your feedback which hopefully will explain the situation more fully. - At no point did the team member mention a waiting list of over 100 people. Our reception team informed you that the list was under 100 people, and she also explained how every appointment request is triaged by a Doctor and appointments booked by priority - The reception team member tried to explain the situation regarding availability of appointments based on the information received from the physio. The reason for the request of an appointment changed during the latter part of the call, and the reception team member did acknowledge and fully understand your situation. As a result of this, a same day appointment was booked for you. We do understand that it is frustrating that we are unable to provide everyone with an appointment on the same day. However, as my colleague tried to explain due to demand our waiting list is reviewed daily by a clinician. When doing their job my team do deserve to be treated with respect and courtesy at all times and we ask that this is the case going forward. Unfortunately due to underfunding of General Practice over numerous years, we are working in challenging situations. Our team are working extremely hard to meet our patient’s needs. If you would like to know more about this, please visit https://www.bma.org.uk/our-campaigns/gp-campaigns/patients/gps-are-on-your-side I am unable to go in to any more detail as such I am more than happy to discuss this situation in more detail. If you would like to do this, please contact me at cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net Samantha Sales, Practice Manager
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Review titled Thank you to medical and administrative staff
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Pete - Posted on 19 August 2024
Have been a couple of times in the last weeks for stomach / back / liver / blood pressure issues; both times I was dealt with incredibly well - they both asked a lot of questions to make sure they weren’t being myopic but were asking around the situation, in order to get the most appropriate followup. Have not yet got to the bottom of things but I am very happy with progress. The fact you have to call on that morning at 8:30 on the dot and then wait in the queue is obviously annoying but being truthful I was only waiting 5 or so minutes and the staff were friendly in circumstances involving worried and impatient patients (if that’s a thing). And both times I did get a same day appointment. Nice one nrmc.
Visited August 2024
Nuffield Road Medical Centre has not yet replied.
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Review titled Another patient
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 June 2024
Just to make you aware, some members of staff within the NHS are working very hard to attend the patients and do give appoitnments in Nutfield Medical Centre. But some others do not, which means that all depends on how lucky you are to find the right person on the other side of the reception. While some of them listen to our problem and do give us an appointment when coming early in the morning, some others do not seem to wish you to disturb them, so they just carry on responding robotically that doctor's agenda is already full even if it is 1st time in the morning. They never say there is no doctor, which means there is a doctor that is not attending to anyone. I am not managing the clinic, but unless we do not take those things seriously we will never avoid over expending our money from the NHS by paying wages to people who does not really want to work.
Visited June 2024
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 24 June 2024
Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your recent experience. We are sorry that you have had this experience, and it is certainly not what we would expect. On contacting the surgery the team should seek to understand the reason for the call, and if it is for an appointment they should ask for further information to ensure they can establish the priority for the appointment. No member of the team should be advising that there is not an appointment available without first understanding further the reason for the appointment. This information helps the team to prioritise. Due to the current demands on General Practice (nationally), there is unfortunately the need to prioritise the appointments. Following your feedback the team have been reminded of the approach they should take. I am sorry that you feel that contact has felt robotic and not given your call or contact at reception the attention that has been needed. In order for me to identify any specific training need for the team, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further. I am keen for the team to have any further training needed. The team do work very hard in what is a demanding role at this time in General Practice. Unfortunately, there are days when the team take a lot of abuse and understandably this can affect how they may handle a call. I feel confident in saying that the team would want to provide a good quality of care, however I do understand that your experience has not been as you would expect. As such, please do drop me an email to cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net if you would like to discuss this further. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention. Sam Sales, Practice Manager
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Review titled Absolutely atrocious service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 08 May 2024
Awful surgery. Impossible to see a doctor, for an adult’s ongoing problem or for a 15 month baby. The wait on the phone to even speak to anyone is so long, when you finally get through there are apparently no appointments for that day. The women who answer the phones are incredibly unhelpful and un-empathetic. Do not display any understanding in difficult situations - their responses are robotic and routine. Once you finally get an appointment, the doctor’s are so behind schedule you can be waiting for up to an hour for your 10 minutes slot. Other surgeries I have been to have an online system which responded within a few hours. This surgery’s online system seems to never respond, for an urgent matter or non-urgent. I live 5 minutes down the road and was told this morning to go to A&E at Addenbrooks because they have no more appointments for the day. It’s 9:30am and I’d been on hold since 8:50am. Instead of wasting admin’s time of displaying lots of posters about supporting your own mental health, sort this mess out and have more staff answering phone calls which have been trained to answer in an understanding manner, especially when it has anything to do with toddlers! Initially, I transferred to this surgery as it was bigger than my last (and presumably employed more doctors so would have more appointments?!)… when I transfered and filled all the forms out, stating my repeat prescriptions.. none of them were logged and the receptionist said I would have to see a doctor to reinstate them all. But they didn’t have any appointments for a month!
Visited May 2024
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 10 May 2024
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. We are sorry to learn of your experience when you registered at our surgery and your repeat medications, and your recent experience to get an appointment. I have outlined below the steps that we have / will take as a result of your feedback. Regarding your new registration, all patients with repeat medications do need to see a clinician for a medication review before a clinician will issue the prescription. This is for patient safety and for the clinician to understand your medical requirements as you are not known to the clinician at the point you register at the practice. This is done with your care and safety in mind. Your feedback has highlighted the need for us to ensure we do our best to notify new patients who inform us of their repeat medications that they will need a review before further prescriptions are issued. I can understand your frustration regarding the waiting time whilst at the surgery for your appointment, and I have reminded all our clinicians to inform the support team if they are running late during their clinic. This will enable our support team to advise patients. We do understand your frustration about booking an appointment. The team work incredibly hard to provide a professional service to all our patients, and they do this at a very difficult time for the NHS. Unfortunately across England, there are not enough GPs to meet patient demand – GPs are delivering more appointments than ever before despite the workforce depleting year on year. And the government is doing nothing to retain the GPs who are leaving the profession in droves due to an unsustainable workload. Our surgery does feel the impact of this situation, and the team work carefully to prioritise appointment requests daily. If you would like me to look in to this further, please do contact me at cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net Thank you. Sam, Practice Manager
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Review titled No dctor appointments at 8.00?
Rated 1 star out of 5
by poor patient - Posted on 03 June 2024
I know you might be tempted to make a robotic reply saying "this is due to a short of personnel within all areas of the NHS" or "staff are trying hard to provide an adequate level of service, etc..", but the reality is that from my experience it is not about lack of personnel at all, but more about who you find on the desk when you ask for any doctor appointment. In my experience, on the 31.05.2024, we tried to call at 8.00 in the morning and there was either nobody in the line or the lines were busy. After having tried so many times, and having tried also online (was not working), we went to the practice, that was at 8.30. We saw more people waiting outside (the clinic was supposed to open at 8.00). When we got in, guess what? The receptionist told each of us that she could not give any other appointment for that day. The following day, that was 01/06/2024, there was another different person in the reception, and that person did give us an appointment. Given the circumstances, I do not believe everyone is doing its best, it is just a matter of who you find in the reception. While some just do their job properly, others keep the wrong believe that they should get the power of who decides who can be seen by a doctor and who cannot. Because in some cases our lives depends on that (I am particularly recovering from a kidney cancer) the assignment for the role position in the reception desk is a serious issue and needs be taken seriously. Every day we have the same receptionist I saw on the 31.05.2024 we know there will be no appointments for normal people and this is not funny. Kind regards
Visited April 2024
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 24 June 2024
Dear patient Thank you for your feedback about your experience on 31 May 2024. Regarding our opening hours. Our opening hours are 8:30am - 6.00pm daily. Before 8.30am our phone lines are not on, and the calls do not come through to reception. The lines open at 8.30am. Outside of this time, there is a message advising that the surgery is closed. In addition, the surgery opens the doors at 8.30am. Unfortunately, the availability of appointments does vary on a daily basis. This can be due to a number of factors i.e. doctors who work that day, unforeseen absence, annual leave etc. This does mean that on some days we are unable to offer an appointment due to capacity, and other days we may have more appointments available. Where an appointment is not possible on a day, the team do give the option for alternatives. This may include contacting 111, attending the Pharmacy or minor injuries, or submitting a request for a appointment using our online system which is available on our website. The framework in which our reception work is defined by the clinical team in the surgery, and they use this guidance to help them prioritise the allocation of appointments. Where a member of the team needs further support to understand if an appointment should be given, they do have the support of the clinical team to help assess the need. I will review the situation for the staffing on the 31 May 2024 and provide further guidance as needed. If you do want to come back to me to discuss the matter in more detail, please do contact me on cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net Thank you again for taking the time to provide your feedback. Sam Sales, Practice Manager.
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Review titled impossible to get an appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 28 November 2023
The Drs are very lovely but it's impossible to get an appointment. Staff doesn't take notes so every conversation starts from scratch. I've been trying to get an appointment for weeks for a non-urgent matter to no avail. This is not the first time this is happening.
Visited November 2023
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 21 December 2023
I am sorry to learn of your experience, particularly that you feel you have to start from scratch every time. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns, and to look at the situation a little closer. If you feel you can give me some time to understand this further, please do get in touch with me at cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net Please send your email for my attention, Sam Sales, Practice Manager. I hope to hear from you.
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Review titled Very Helpful
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Lynne Thomas - Posted on 30 October 2023
My husband and I have recently moved into the area. The receptionist was very helpful with regard to the forms and making initial appointments for us. She also made an appointment for my husband to have a telephone appointment to request his meds. GP rang during the timescale stipulated and again was very helpful. All surgeries are under pressure and given those pressures I still found this one to be professional, friendly and approachable. Good choice for us.
Visited October 2023
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 31 October 2023
Dear Lynne Thank you for taking the time to provide us with some feedback. It was lovely this morning to circulate your positive words to the team. I am pleased to hear that the team have helped you and your husband with your move to a new surgery. Your understanding of the current pressures in surgeries is also appreciated. We always welcome feedback, so please do keep us informed of how we are doing. I can always be contacted if you wish to discuss anything. You can contact me on cpicbnrmcpatients@nhs.net Thank you, Sam, Practice Manager
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Review titled Seriously unhelpful staff
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 05 October 2023
Needed to get a simple declaration note from a GP regarding my Mothers health issues for a legal matter. The receptionist told me that it would have to go to their admin dept and could take 30 days. This is a simple 2 line letter with a doctors signature which would take less than 3 minutes to produce. Diabolical service from a so called caring profession. Another poor review to add to the countless others already left. Disgusting!
Visited October 2023
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 13 October 2023
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback about your experience with the surgery. I am sorry that you feel the response from the receptionist did not help you as needed. We do receive a lot of requests for administration work to be completed by the clinical team and it is always difficult to give realistic time frames for forms etc to be completed. If you would like me to look in to this further, I would be happy to come back to you direct. If you would like to contact me, please do so at cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net. Thank you Sam - Practice Manager
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Review titled Underwhelming at best
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 06 October 2023
Not a shining example of communication or service. Sent messages are never really replied to or read fully. Replies are dismissive and cursory at best. Asked about fitness for a return to work and was told 'it's up to you'. No enquirey , interest shown, or advice given. Nurse for a blood test was friendly and efficient as for the rest ... Not seen a doctor in years, phone appointment at best. Never seems crowded or busy. Do they actually have doctors on site or is this just a filtering centre to get rid of perceived 'time wasters'. This poor level of service was confirmed after talking to one of my neighbours who also has the misfortune to be registered here. Would not recommend .
Visited September 2023
Review titled Nuffield Road Medical Centre
Replied on 13 October 2023
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on our service. I am disappointed that this has been your experience regarding our responses. I would welcome the opportunity to look at your situation, and to review the responses you have received. This will help us to improve how we reply. If you would like to get in touch, please do send me an email to cpicb.nrmcpatients@nhs.net and I can look in to this further. Thank you Sam - Practice Manager