Poplar Grove Practice
Meadow Way, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP20 1XBContact details and opening times
Patient ratings and reviews
Leave a review
Help others by sharing your thoughts and experiences about Poplar Grove Practice.
Reviews
-
Review titled Brilliant care and understanding
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Andrew John Carolan - Posted on 03 April 2024
I saw a Doctor at the Surgery in the middle of September last year, having spent 7 hours at A & E without anyone looking at me, this was the first Doctor who checked to see what the problem was, I went to Stoke Mandeville for a second time and was seen, the Doctor diagnosed the problem and so started the long road to getting better. During the next 5 Months I spoke to with a few of your Doctors and were both very professional and they helped me a great deal, at some stages I was in agony with the pain and all the Doctors at Poplar Grove spent the time to listen to me and we tried different medication to make things more comfortable for me. I would recommend this Surgery to anyone who asks me as they were brilliant.
Visited September 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 20 May 2024
Dear Mr Carolan Thank you so much for your kind comments about the service you received from the surgery. Kind regards, Poplar Grove Practice
-
Review titled I don't know what they do here but they don't see patients!
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 August 2023
Poplar Grove is not a doctor's surgery! It can't be! They say they are a doctor's surgery, and they look like a doctor's surgery, but there are never any appointments, and no doctors or nurses are available to see patients. They have their Ask First app - an awful app that takes you around and around in frustrating circles. Not sure how much they paid for that app. Whatever it was is too much! I don't know what the doctors they claim are on staff do all day. They want you to call at 8am, but by 5 minutes past, they have no appointments left. How?! You only just opened! They tell you to see a pharmacist. I wonder how happy the staff at Boots will be when I try and show them the part of my body I want to discuss! They tell you to call 111, but the staff at 111 are not doctors and don't have access to doctors, so that's pointless. I cannot even imagine what it must be like for people will long-term medical conditions who need regular access to a doctor. In summary - avoid Poplar Grove at all costs. I have lived all over the country, and this is by far the worst experience I have ever had with a doctors surgery. It's just appalling.
Visited August 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 03 August 2023
Dear Anon Please be assured we are a NHS funded Doctors Surgery and work at 100% capacity every day. Unfortunately we cannot offer an unlimited amount of appointments. Our Clinicians have to work safely and there comes a point where we have to cap our Duty List. Our reception team are always working to the instructions given to them by the Duty Team, which therefore puts them in the firing line for abuse when patients can’t get an appointment. We completely understand how this impacts patients, especially the young and elderly. As part of the expansion of Primary Care Provision, NHS111 is always available to help if you do need to access advice whilst the surgery is on divert as when we reach our safe working levels. NHS111 has capacity to triage and book patients into our services like out of hour GPs and Minor Illness Units. They also have access a small number of urgent slots at the practice if they needed. If you do need to be seen urgently, once in the queue, please always hold for the reception team who can help with an urgent request. We do understand long queues waiting times are an issue across the entire NHS, and we appreciate that it can take time getting into the queue. We are currently in the process of changing our appointment system as we do realise the challenges the current system brings. I hope you will see some positive changes in the near future. I have included a link to a joint statement issued and signed by all the Aylesbury GPs in December 2022 explaining the pressures we are all facing together in the local area- https://www.poplar-grove.co.uk/news/practice-statements/a-joint-statement-from-the-aylesbury-gp-surgeries/ Thank you Poplar Grove Practice
-
Review titled Amazing telephone manner
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Marc - Posted on 12 July 2023
I received a call today regarding a recent health query. The call I received was very helpful but the person calling had a very calm, caring and supportive manner too.
Visited July 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 13 July 2023
Dear Marc Thank you for your kind comments about our Clinical Team member and the service you received from the surgery. Kind regards, Poplar Grove Practice.
-
Review titled Sub-standard
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 11 July 2023
Despite the claim saying pre-bookable 3 days in advance can't access the system and when phoning the Staff have to advise no available appointments and unable to book in advance. This practice used to be easily available to get appointments but for the past 5 years despite all the booking "improvements" has become increasingly more difficult to obtain an appointment and you can feel the frustration of the Staff answering the phone and see it when you go in to Reception. This practice needs a severe overhaul of how it deals with patients and the service it provides the Community it is supposed to serve.
Visited July 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 03 August 2023
Dear Anon We do appreciate the feedback and comments we get on all elements of the practice. We are currently in the process of changing our appointment system as we do realise the challenges the current system brings. I hope you will see some positive changes in the near future, and thank you for taking the time to pass on your feedback. Poplar Grove Practice
-
Review titled Caring, Friendly, Compassionate, Helpful
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 31 January 2024
I have been with Poplar Grove all my life, and yes it can be difficult to get an appointment (but that's the case everywhere) but I have been able to get appointments when needed (yes there is a wait, but be patient!), speaking to the lovely, helpful reception staff, through to supportive paramedic teams, great prescription teams, and all of the nurses and doctors. The whole team, considering the pressures they all face, through no fault of their own, they are remarkable, friendly, kind, compassionate, helpful, advisory and so much more. Whether for me its a pill check up, smear test, routine appointment, or something more. No matter who I see on my appointment, I always feel that they care about me, and have time for me. The recent launch of AskFirst, can be a little frustrating, but this will I am sure improve over time (it is not the only way to get an appointment). My plea to all who are registered or thinking of registering, the NHS is overwhelmed, be kind, and think about the people who are trying to help you the best they can, and ensure you are seeking the right level of support, when you need it. I have been in crisis points and needing quick treatment, and this has been addressed promptly. The building itself is clean, spacious, and the rooms are sound proofed and welcoming. Getting around the building is simple by following the signage. They have wonderful memorial garden dedicated to those who lost their lives in the pandemic. They have a community book library too. You have face to face and phone appointments which all are great. I highly recommend Poplar Grove, for caring for me, and my family and being there. I also plea to attendees, if you have cough cold symptoms please wear a mask, you will only add to the pressures they face if you are poorly and they then become unable to work. Thank you all for your support and care
Visited July 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 06 March 2024
Dear Patient Thank you so much for your kind comments about the service you received from the surgery. Kind regards, Poplar Grove Practice
-
Review titled Great service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by David Wheeler - Posted on 06 July 2023
After expecting a long wait and not expecting to see a GP and having read negative reviews on social media I only waited 15 minutes to speak to a receptionist who then gave me an appointment with a GP.
Visited July 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 13 July 2023
Dear David Thank you for your kind comments about our Receptionist, Clinical Team and the service you received from the surgery. Kind regards, Poplar Grove Practice.
-
Review titled Things can only get better......I hope
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Tracy - Posted on 06 June 2023
Poplar grove is a wonderful surgery and the staff are lovely and always helpful. As they know themselves through patient feedback the ongoing issue is the phone lines and trying to get an appointment which can sadly take over a week. I spoke with the lovely feedback team and I even emailed our local MP asking for help for Poplar grove. We need to do everything in our power to save our gp surgeries! And I know it's a scary time for us all right now not being able to get the help we need from our gp as and when we need but I also know Poplar grove are doing their best and I remain optimistic that things will get better. Please know that we are grateful for everything the staff at Poplar Grove are doing through this difficult time to try and find a solution to this ongoing issue. But to all staff at Poplar Grove Practice, thank you and keep your chin up things will get better! 👍🏼
Visited June 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 09 June 2023
Dear Tracy Thank you for your feedback about the service you have received. We are grateful you highlighted the issues facing Primary Care to our local MP. We are all working as hard as we can in very challenging times. Kind regards Poplar Grove Practice
-
Review titled appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 12 June 2023
tried making an appointment on just ask for a relative in their 80s to no avail how can you expect people of a certain age to use such an app. what happened to the appointments on patient access? as for phoning up on the day and having messages like we had this amount of calls and made this amount of appointments not good when you are struggling to get through. what happened to the ring back service? it is so stressful for people contact you could you make it a bit easier
Visited June 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 13 June 2023
Dear Patient We are sorry to hear you have struggled to get an appointment. Whilst the majority of our appointments are booked on the day, we do have a small number of pre-bookable appointments which get released each day and we do realise these get booked up fast. The ring back service on our phone system is active and available once you get in the telephone queue. We are aware of the huge demand that our colleagues locally are also facing. Both locally and nationally clinicians are choosing to leave the profession because of the pressure that we are all under. We are in the process of seeing how we can improve our appointment system to make it more efficient and we value the feedback we receive. Thank you for your comments.
-
Review titled Can they get less accessible?
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 26 May 2023
I could forgive them during Covid, but it has got ridiculous now! Impossible to contacxt when you try despite them "asking" me to book an appointment for a Diabetes review. Today I tried to ring them about an Urgent missed prescription only to discover that they are only open for this sort of thing between 15.00 and 16.00 this afternoon and a short time in the mornings. This is getting beyond a joke nowadays. First I cannot get a diabetes review despite spending litereally hours on the phone to them. Now I caznnot get my Diabetes medicine because the Patient Access app had a brain blip and the prescription has disappeared. Obviously nobody gives a monkeys' about my health anymore.
Visited May 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 30 May 2023
Dear Anon Thank you for your comments. On Friday 26th May, the clinical system used by most GPs suffered a national outage which meant functions on the NHS App were affected. Unfortunately this was out of our control. As many of our patients now order their medication on line, we open our prescription telephone line between 11 - 12.30pm and 3 - 4pm to assist those who do not order on-line. I am sorry you have struggled to book your Diabetic reviews. It can be easier to call after 10am when the phones quiet down. If you continue to have issues booking a diabetic review, please email feedback.poplargrove@nhs.net and we will look into this for you. Thank you Poplar Grove Practice
-
Review titled Awful
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 07 June 2023
This surgery has got to be the worst surgery in Aylesbury. There is no care, no help, nothing is ever actioned, no appointments, you just end up having to ring 111, so the strain this joke of a surgery is putting on the NHS emergency services by not running efficiently is huge. Everywhere else has sorted it out, so your partners really need to sit down and work out what they are going to do to improve. It’s always a ghost town in the surgery, far too many staff wandering around and chatting to have any type of strain.
Visited May 2023
Review titled Poplar Grove Practice
Replied on 09 June 2023
Thank you for your feedback. Unfortunately we cannot offer an unlimited amount of appointments. Our Clinicians have to work safely and there comes a point where we have to cap our Duty List. Our reception team are always working to the instructions given to them by the Duty Team, which therefore puts them in the firing line for abuse when patients can’t get an appointment. As part of the expansion of Primary Care Provision, NHS111 is always available to help if you do need to access advice whilst the surgery is on divert as when we reach our safe working levels. NHS111 has capacity to triage and book patients into our services like Pharmacists and Minor Illness Units We know it is not a perfect system. Primary care is under huge strain at the moment and demand is outstripping capacity. The population of Aylesbury has hugely increased whereby the number of GPs and available appointments has stayed the same! We are asking patients to contact their MP as we are working as hard as we can to ensure patients get dealt with. Both locally and nationally clinicians are choosing to leave the profession because of the pressure that we are all under. Please do review the joint statement signed by all Aylesbury GPs in December 2022 stating how we are all struggling to meet demand: https://www.poplar-grove.co.uk/news/practice-statements/a-joint-statement-from-the-aylesbury-gp-surgeries/ We are in the process of seeing how we can improve our appointment system to make it more efficient. Thank you for feeding back on your experience.