The Practice at 188
188 Golders Green Road, Golders Green, London, Greater London, NW11 9AYContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Dysfunctional practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Rajneesh Prasad - Posted on 11 February 2024
Registered temporarily for 3 months following cardiac surgery. I was removed from the list without notice after requesting a repeat prescription. I was offered a permanent registration, I have to assume the surgery would then be entitled to more tax-payer money. Under NICE I should have been offered Cardiac Rehabilitation but the Practice 188 neglected to do so probably it was too much effort for them.
Visited February 2024
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 19 February 2024
Dear Rajneesh Prasad, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. As Practice Manager, I take on the role of Complaints Manager for the organisation which means I hold delegated responsibility for managing complaints and ensuring adequate investigations are carried out. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. We note that you were registered as a temporary patient with the Practice. This allows us to provide immediately necessary treatment whilst you are away from your usual GP Practice. We prescribed all of your usual medication, as requested, on 8 January 2024. Once your temporary registration had elapsed, you were advised that this cannot be renewed. To do so would be in defiance of the GMS regulations which are standardised across England. At this point, you were provided with three options for receiving medical treatment; ask your usual GP Practice to send an electronic prescription to any pharmacy in England, contact NHS 111 for urgent medical assistance, or register with us as a permanent patient. I understand that this process can be frustrating but the rationale behind NHS England's regulations which provide a time-limit on temporary registration is to ensure that any treatments provided are on a temporary basis. To continue prescribing without access to your full medical history would have been unsafe and in breach of our contract with NHS England. I am sorry that, on this occasion, we were unable to fulfil your request. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns further with you. If you wish to do so, please either call us on 02034746498, walk into the Practice, or submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled The worst practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Stoyan Gerchev - Posted on 08 December 2023
I regret to express my dissatisfaction with The Practice at 188, as my experiences have consistently fallen short of acceptable standards. One recurring issue involves the abrupt cancellations of appointments without any prior explanation, causing inconvenience and frustration. Furthermore, the decision to conduct a phone appointment for a shoulder injury raised serious concerns about the quality of medical judgment and care. In numerous instances when I required timely assistance, accessing a live appointment seemed nearly impossible, leaving me questioning the availability and commitment of the medical staff. Regrettably, I have yet to physically meet with the doctor, leading me to speculate about their accessibility and dedication to patient care. It is my sincere hope that The Practice at 188 takes these concerns seriously and addresses the shortcomings in service to enhance the overall quality of medical care provided to patients.
Visited December 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Stoyan Gerchev, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. I have recently taken on the post of Practice Manager. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. I am sorry to hear that your appointment was cancelled at short notice and that you had difficulty arranging a face-to-face appointment. Whilst there are sometimes circumstances beyond our control (such as staff sickness) which lead to cancellations, we always aim to offer a suitable alternative. I am acutely aware of the specific circumstances surrounding your appointment cancellation which was due to an issue with one of our partner organisations. This led to the last-minute cancellation of a number of our musculoskeletal (MSK) specialist practitioner appointments. We have discussed these concerns internally and with our partners and rapidly implemented changes to ensure all of these appointments can be held face-to-face and included continuity planning to prevent the cancellation of appointments at short notice. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns further with you. If you wish to do so, please either call us on 02034746498, walk into the Practice, or submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled So supportive Dr's, Clinical Pharmacist and Reception
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Farita Franklin - Posted on 31 October 2023
My son and I have been members of this practice for over 50 years. My son has special needs and we were faced with a major problem regarding his treatment. He has dual nationality and found that he could not return to continue his medication. Therefore faced with the problem of obtaining specialist medicines for him whilst in England. He was due to urgent medication. The Reception, Dr's and Clinical Pharmacist were superb in obtaining and administering and ensuring he received his medication on the dates required.
Visited October 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Farita, Thank you for your feedback. It is very pleasing to hear that both your son and you remain satisfied with the service provided by a number of our staff over the many years you have been patients at our Practice. Your comments have been shared with the wider team who are continuously looking to improve the service we provide. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled This Practice make me waste my time
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Carmen Alfonso Caceres - Posted on 12 July 2023
I´d received a text message last week telling me to book an appointment for discussing about the X-ray of my wife. I went to the practice last Monday 10th of July about 18:30h in behalf of my wife to book it. I gave all details about my wife to a lady at the reception desk, she wrote on the computer a call appointment with Spanish interpreter for the same day at 19:30h. Nobody called us so I went back to the Practice on Wednesday 12th of July about 18:00h. I told another lady at the reception desk about that problem. She told me there wasn´t any annotation in the computer. The lady who told me to get an appointment on Monday the 10th didn´t do any annotation, that´s unbelievable. I asked the second lady to get an appointment, she told me the first one available is on the 4th of August but it won´t be possible with interpreter because to have an appointment is one slot and is needed another slot for the interpreter, 2 slots aren´t possible so she doesn´t know when it´s available an appointment with 2 slots. She told me to try that next week. I don´t understand what she told me that, because my wife has had call appointments with the doctor with interpreter before, it´s the the doctor who calls the interpreter for talking the doctor, interpreter and my wife.
Visited July 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Carmen Alfonso Caceres, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. I have recently taken on the post of Practice Manager. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. I am aware that your feedback was also raised directly with our Management team. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to investigate the circumstances surrounding your complaint. As discussed, we found that you did have an appointment arranged for 10/07/23 but our clinician was unable to reach you after trying to call multiple times. We also addressed the issue of accessing an interpreter and, thanks to your feedback, have been able to implement changes in our clinical rota to ensure such access is freely available. I hope that our conversation surrounding this, and our formal response sent to you, has provided some resolution and explanation to the issues you have described. Notwithstanding this, I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you. If you wish to do so, please either call us on 02034746498, walk into the Practice, or submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled Staff could not be more helpful
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 05 May 2023
Reception staff dealt with my query very quickly and happily, even calling me back within 5 minutes with the outcome of my query
Visited May 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback. We are glad to hear that you were happy with our Reception team. Our Reception Manager works hard to ensure her team meet the high expectations we have of them by providing a friendly and professional service. Your comments have been shared with our Reception team who are pleased to know that you were happy with your experience. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled Excellent experience
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Chris - Posted on 03 April 2023
I visited the practice to discuss a medical issue I'd been having for some time. The doctor was extremely helpful and provided me with several options to proceed, as well as the materials I needed to be referred to an NHS clinic that could help me directly. Overall a very productive experience.
Visited April 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Chris, Thank you for your feedback. We are extremely pleased to hear that your medical issue was dealt with to your satisfaction and that your experience with us was productive. Your comments have been shared with our clinical team to inspire further improvement in the service they provide. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled No help at all
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 17 February 2023
The receptionist was very rude after waiting over a hour on phone to be told no appointments call tomorrow which is not possible to call every day waiting for an hour. Incompetent receptionist no help told to go hospital as No appointments available possibly next month. Terrible bad attitude rude and in wrong profession supposed to help but just made me feel more I'll die to stress of it
Visited February 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. I have recently taken on the post of Practice Manager. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. It is difficult for me to comment in detail on the circumstances you describe without knowing your name or another identifier which would enable me to conduct a full investigation. Nonetheless, I would like to stress that the concerns you raise resonate strongly with me and should highlight the work we have done to improve our services over the last few months. We have recently undertaken a full strategic review of our staff and processes. This has led to numerous changes throughout the Practice which are already beginning to have a positive impact. For example; the average waiting time on our phone lines is now just two minutes, the waiting time for a routine GP appointment is just over one week, and all urgent clinical issues are managed on the same day. We have also invested heavily in reviewing our staff structure to ensure everyone working at the Practice shares our values of respect, accountability, transparency and equality. I hope that you will notice a significant and positive change in the way your query is handled when you next have need to contact us. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss your concerns further with you. If you wish to do so, please either call us on 02034746498, walk into the Practice, or submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled They don't want to give face to face appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Carmen Alfonso Caceres - Posted on 07 February 2023
My husband and I went to reception yesterday 6th of February at 19:00h asking a face to face appointment because I've had a throat infection since 6 months ago and got two phone appointments yet and have been getting worse last time. It was the answer of the woman who was at the desk, there aren't any appointments for today, nor tomorrow, nor after tomorrow also she told me to call tomorrow from 8:00h for having an appointment. It doesn't make sense because she told me there won't be any appointment next days. I couldn't understand how there weren't any appointment for today when only a patient was waiting the doctor there. I believe if I'd asked a private appointment paying I wouldn't have had any problem for getting it today or tomorrow. Finally, my husband called today 7th of February at 8:00h, he was waiting one hour to be attended. Somebody told him as the same as yesterday, there aren't face to face appointments. It's the only option to go to the hospital, it means to wait 5 hours there or more. I'll change to another Practice as soon as possible.
Visited February 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Carmen Alfonso Caceres, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. I have recently taken on the post of Practice Manager. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. I am sorry to hear that neither you nor your husband were able to arrange a face-to-face appointment with us. As part of the recent changes implemented across the Practice, we have implemented a complete ban on asking patients to call the next day for an appointment. We agree with you that such instructions are not in keeping with the delivery of high quality healthcare. Our mission statement is to provide an appropriate and rewarding experience for our patients whenever they need our support. To ensure our service provision matches this, we have made changed to reduce our waiting time for routine face-to-face GP appointments to just over one week. We also now ensure that all urgent clinical queries are managed on the same day. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you. If you wish to do so, please either call us on 02034746498, walk into the Practice, or submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled Worst GP practice
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 February 2023
Everytime I call, I wait 45 - 60 minutes in line to be told there are no appointments, today or for a routine appointment on a future date. Call back next day and same old story next day. Worst GP ever they should be closed down. Complete waste of NHS resources. What is the point of paying someone to answer the phone when they cannot offer appointments. The practice should be Closed down.
Visited February 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. I have recently taken on the post of Practice Manager. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. I am sorry to hear that you had to wait a long time to get through to us by phone and that you were unable to access a convenient appointment. We have been working hard over the last few months to improve access to the Practice and have made great strides in this regard. The average waiting time to get through to us by phone is now at two minutes and we are able to offer unlimited capacity for urgent clinical issues to be managed on the same day, with routine issues being offered a GP appointment in under two weeks. I hope that you find your experience of accessing our services has significantly improved since your feedback as a result of the changes we have implemented. If you would like to do so, I would be keen to meet with you to discuss your concerns further. To arrange this, please either call us on 02034746498, submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ or walk into the Practice and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager
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Review titled Terrible practice, rude staff, never have appointments.
Rated 1 star out of 5
by S Brown - Posted on 13 March 2023
This is genuinely the worst practice I’ve ever encountered. I’ve been with this practice for about 6 months since moving to the area. From day 1 it’s been consistently terrible for a number of reasons. 1. They never have face to face appointments available. They constantly tell you to call the out of hours number. You call it and speak to a doctor who only refers you back to the GP because they can only do so much over the phone. This happens routinely and when I raise it they say that’s just how it is. I explained I’ve been trying for 6 months to see a doctor for the same issue and I’m just going around in circles and making no progress. I’m just fortunate that it’s not a life threatening condition because for many they simply wouldn’t be seen in time and could end up in a much worse position due to unnecessary delay. 2. The staff are so rude and hostile. Even after waiting patiently for 45 mins or so to get through, they speak to you like you’re inconveniencing them by calling for an appointment and dismiss you by saying to call out of hours (and that’s even when I call at 8am sharp for an appointment). They hang up on you without saying bye. It’s honestly so bizarre how the staff behave.. if they hate what they do then don’t do it but taking it out on patients is so unnecessary and unprofessional. 3. I’ve only managed to get a face to face appointment twice in 6 months (and I would call at 8am several times a week to try to get an appointment). I eventually got an appointment with a nurse because they refuse to let me see a doctor. The nurse was so rude, she was arguing with me and gaslighting me about my symptoms. After I left, my symptoms didn’t go obviously so I called again and eventually got another appointment with the same nurse unfortunately, and again it was so unpleasant I left and burst into tears. I also ended up going to the walk in emergency centre at the hospital because they wouldn’t help at all, but feel I shouldn’t have to resort to that because it’s a GP I needed not the hospital. 4. They have messed up my medication in the past. I was prescribed the wrong amount of antibiotics and every time I called or went in to rectify it, they just send you in circles saying to call when I go in, then when I call they say to come in because they can’t deal with it on the phone. I ended up not being able to have the correct course amount so the treatment was unsuccessful. 5. Finally, I feel that my mental health has really suffered since interacting with this practice. The combination of negative things above has made me increasingly anxious and depressed because I am going around in circles, can’t get help, I’m trying hard to be patient with them and am only met with hostility. This practice refused to even send me for a scan and only did so once an external doctor from the hospital sent them a letter directly telling them to do so. Despite this, it’s been over a month and I still haven’t been given an appointment for a scan.
Visited January 2023
Review titled The Practice at 188
Replied on 25 January 2024
Dear S Brown, Thank you for your feedback. My name is Ryan. I have recently taken on the post of Practice Manager. I am sorry to hear about your experience. It is important that we hear from patients when things go wrong as this can help us learn and make improvements. It is difficult for me to comment in detail on the circumstances you describe without knowing your full name or another identifier which would enable me to conduct a full investigation. Nonetheless, I would like to stress that I feel your concerns are very valid and your experience does not align with our strategy of delivering high quality healthcare. We have recently undertaken a full strategic review of our staff and processes. This has led to numerous changes throughout the Practice which are already beginning to have a positive impact. For example; the average waiting time on our phone lines is now just two minutes, the waiting time for a routine GP appointment is just over one week, and all urgent clinical issues are managed on the same day. We have also invested heavily in reviewing our staff structure to ensure everyone working at the Practice shares our values of respect, accountability, transparency and equality. I hope that you will notice a significant and positive change in the way your query is handled when you next have need to contact us. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you. If you wish to do so, please either call us on 02034746498, walk into the Practice, or submit an online form at https://thepracticeat188.webgp.com/ and ask to schedule a meeting with me. Kind Regards. Ryan, Practice Manager