The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Victoria Road, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 1DNContact details and opening times
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Reviews
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Review titled Indifference
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Julie Shaw - Posted on 16 August 2024
I phoned repeatedly this morning to organise a home visit. Am very sick with infection across my stomach and left leg. I cannot attend the surgery due to a stroke last year. When the surgery opened I spoke to the receptionist who said she would pass on my request. That was it. Nothing about how they’d call me to let me know who and when they’d be coming. I had my right leg amputated as a child and fear the sheer indifference of this practice will result in my losing the left one. It’s not good enough. Our A&E departments are in crisis and I think it’s the indifference of GPs that’s to blame. All gp’s practices talk about these days are their expectations of patients and literally don’t give a second thought about patient expectations of them. It’s dangerous and neglectful.
Visited August 2024
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 16 August 2024
Dear Miss Shaw I am very sorry to hear you were unhappy with how we handled your appointment request. I am very happy to confidentially investigate your concerns. You can call me directly on 01628 405570 or submit a complaint via our website: https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/your-record/feedback-and-complaints/ For the benefit of all patients, I think it is helpful if I explain our triage process. The practice operates a triage system, where based on symptoms entered in our Klinik system (by the patient or entered on behalf of the patient by our Care Navigator/Reception team), it uses artificial intelligence to assign urgency to the query in a safe and consistent way. A second human triage is done by our clinical team and enquiries are then routed to the appropriate clinical team within the surgery or advice to call 999 where necessary. This takes away from the Care Navigator/Reception team’s judgement on what is urgent and what can wait, which is open to interpretation. We aim to review all routine queries within 48 hours and urgent queries the same day (if they are submitted before 6pm). (Urgent queries will be contacted within 48 hours). Clinically urgent queries will be prioritised, but we may ask patients to contact 111 or A&E if necessary. Note that if following triage your request is categorised as routine, we will aim to contact patients within 48 hours and offer an appointment within 1-2 weeks. At times of high demand it may take longer than this to be seen. Our Care Navigator/Reception team or triage team will always contact patients to confirm an appointment date and time. If an appointment is imminent they will telephone or send a text message. If an appointment is routine they will email or text (depending on the contact details we hold on a patient’s medical record). If symptoms continue to worsen for a suspected serious condition, whilst your request is being triaged, we always recommend to call 999 or visit A&E. All calls to the surgery are recorded. I shall ensure that the calls you made are reviewed by our Reception Manager and the Care Navigator you spoke to for reflection and learning if we have not been clear enough in our communications. I would like to thank you for bringing this to my attention and sincerely apologise for any distress and inconvenience incurred. We value all patient feedback and appreciate the opportunity to improve our services in the future. Kind Regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Super!
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Tracy - Posted on 22 April 2024
My mum hasn't been very well since January 24 so we have had to ask for help for the surgery a few times in the last 4 months. The doctors, nurses, paramedics, reception staff and social prescribing team have all be kind, helpful and extremely professional. In these difficult times for the NHS I couldn't have asked for better care for my mum.
Visited March 2024
The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group has not yet replied.
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Review titled Artificial intelligence has taken over
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Biltin - Posted on 28 March 2024
Phone calls no longer exist, endless useless texts are sent out to your phones all hrs of the day, never see the same Dr twice, cant get your life saving repeat prescriptions without a fight through texts and emails. Once was the best surgery in Bucks but I would now change in heartbeat if I could. Pay more and get less with the UKs NHS.
Visited February 2024
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 02 April 2024
Dear Biltin I am very sorry to hear you have been unhappy with our services. We do ask patients who are able to use our patient system Klinik to do so, which enables our Care Navigator/Reception team to help patients who are unable to use on-line services or feel too ill on a given day. Please just tell our Care Navigator team if you don't wish to use on-line services and they will enter a request on your behalf. The team are working hard to offer continuity of care with a GP who has seen you previously for a reported condition. Clinicians typically do not work at the practice each day so this can be challenging if you wish to be seen more urgently. I am very happy to investigate any issues you have had regarding your medications via our secure complaints process: https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/your-record/feedback-and-complaints/ Kind regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Excellent doctor
Rated 3 stars out of 5
by Graham Lucas - Posted on 29 January 2024
Although my appointment through the kinik system was two weeks after requesting it, the doctor I saw this afternoon was extremely efficient, very personal and thorough. I was impressed.
Visited January 2024
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 01 February 2024
Dear Mr Lucas Thank you for taking the time to send your lovely feedback, which I have shared with the clinician you saw. Kind regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Overwhelmed Practice
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 05 September 2023
When Marlow Medical Group initially deployed the Klinik Access system, it appeared to work well (see earlier reviews on this page). As greater numbers joined the online-appointments-only revolution in the name of efficiency ...efficiency it would appear left by the back door. When Klinik no longer works and there is no reply to an online appointment request, we are told a patient cannot then request an appointment on the phone. All patients continue to be funnelled into the seemingly-overwhelmed Klinik triaging hopper, with no reverse communication to the end user as to where in the system their request for a doctor's appointment might be or when they may be seen. Weeks can go by with no clue on either side as to what is happening. Patients then perhaps issue another online appointment request, thinking their initial attempt got lost. Is Klinik handling repeat appointment requests, which is in turn contributing to its failure? Unfailingly-polite but stressed receptionists do their best to stick to the official line, continuing to explain to patients that they are 'in' the Klinik system; unable even themselves to see where a patient might be in that 'queue', offering instead the rather vague '"our clinicians are currently making their way through our huge backlog of Klinik requests and yours will be seen to in turn". Similarly, a call to the surgery will reveal you are tenth in the queue to be confidently informed "but if there are over five callers ahead of you, we will call you back". No such thing happens. Marlow Medical Group isn't going through a great time it would seem and managers need to sort this out. We all hope for a speedy return to the previously reasonably-functioning system where patients could get a doctor's appointment and not spend time writing negative reviews on the NHS website.
Visited September 2023
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 08 September 2023
Dear Patient I am sure you have seen on the news that demand for GP services are at an all-time high, whilst our clinical resources are finite. We are doing our best to meet that demand, whilst providing high quality care. To ensure the best allocation of our resources, the practice operates a triage system, where based on symptoms entered in our Klinik system, it uses artificial intelligence to assign urgency to the query in a safe and consistent way and enquiries are then routed to the appropriate team within the surgery or advice to call 999 where necessary. This takes away from the Reception team’s judgement on what was urgent and what could wait which was, of course, open to interpretation. If a case is flagged as urgent, we aim to offer an appointment on the same day if reported by 6pm, however this is based on demand at that time and it may take up to 48 hours to be offered an urgent appointment. If a query is not urgent, we aim to confirm an appointment date and time within 2 weeks. Due to the unprecedented demand we have been unable to confirm appointment dates and times for especially routine appointments within our target timescale. I completely understand that you are unhappy with the current length of time to be offered an appointment. We do not want it to be that long either. Our Practice Management are aware of our appointment backlog, as I have received complaints on this issue from a number of patients. They have been working to reduce the backlog by offering additional clinics and bringing in additional locum resources. We hope the backlog will return to more normal levels within the coming weeks. Unfortunately the current system does not allow subsequent messages to be sent after triage. I can assure you that no requests are lost and we do contact patients as soon as we are able to offer an appointment. We have been experiencing some issues with the telephone call back feature. We have been working with our telephone provider and have found the issue. An update was made this week. Kind regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Awful service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Ravi - Posted on 17 August 2023
I have requested for a ltc over the klink website, the surgery recommends to use, which is another appaling service. It's been more than a week since i requested for an appointment and yet to see a response. Now i cannot even order my repeat prescription. Calling the surgery does not yield much joy either, put on waiting for more than an hour, need to take sometime out of work to speak to someone about an appointment. Inspite of all this, go to the doctor, he hardly spends 2-3 mins with the patient. Wonder the doctors here are geniuses to diagnose a problem in 2-3 mins. Sadly there are no surgeries in my vicinty to change, this is also the reason why the surgery is behaving as they are.
Visited August 2023
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 23 August 2023
Dear Ravi A long term condition (LTC) review is a yearly appointment invitation around the time of your birthday. Bloods are taken relevant to your condition which are reviewed by our LTC GPs who, up to 6-8 weeks after your appointment, will send you a report advising your results and any actions. I assure you that your appointment request has not been ignored, there is a waiting list for recent LTC appointment invitations and we will contact you to confirm an appointment date and time as soon as we are able. The ability to order prescriptions on-line has been disrupted due to a recent change in our clinical patient system. The impact to patients has been advised by our website and local Facebook pages. https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/please-read-patient-impacts-regarding-practice-move-to-new-clinical-patient-system/ We are proactively working to reconnect all our patients. If you need your access sooner please contact via this link in the above post: https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/about-us/have-your-say/patient-support/ I am happy to address any complaint you have regarding our clinicians using our secure complaints form: https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/about-us/practice-policies/patient-rights/complaints/ Kind regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Chaos
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 02 August 2023
The practice recently changed its computer system and provided some information to patients about the impact of these changes including requesting prescriptions and access to the Nhs App. The process has been badly managed throughout with inaccurate information being posted on its website and the change process has made accessing services online using the Nhs app impossible which as a result has caused immense disruption to services. This is bad enough but the practice has taken no responsibility for the failure and instead is blaming the It company, a lack of resources and its patients who are understandably very upset. This omis the only practice serving Marlow and surrounding villages so there is no choice available. It now requires considerable help in understanding how to manage change and cmunicate effectively with patients.
Visited August 2023
The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group has not yet replied.
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Review titled Poor service again!
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 13 June 2023
I called the surgery recently to book an appointment, a very efficient receptionist took me through a ‘form’ and told me I would receive a text within 48 hours offering me an appointment. Having not received the promised text I contacted the surgery, the status of my ‘form’ was checked, and it was confirmed that despite it being 12 days since my original call, it had yet to be processed, no one could be specific about when it might be delt with. I contacted the Patient Services Officer and was told “the current timescale to respond to routine requests is currently 2-3 weeks from date of receipt, with an appointment offered a further 1-2 weeks ahead”. No explanation as to why I was told 48 hours for a response. I fully understand the pressure on the surgery but don’t understand why patients can receive a text whenever the surgery is closed for staff training, but no one has thought to communicate that it now takes 2-3 weeks for a response to a request for an appointment and up to 5 weeks from request to an actual appointment. This episode is typical of the service I have received from the admin team since moving to Marlow nearly 2 years ago.
Visited June 2023
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 14 June 2023
Dear Patient Due to unprecedented demand for our services and a finite amount of staff we are currently not able to meet our target of offering an appointment date and time for routine appointments within 48 hours. We are still able to offer urgent appointments within 48 hours. We publish notices at the top of our website informing of current delays: https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/our-patient-system-klinik-is-available-monday-to-friday-from-7am-to-6pm/ The best way to stay informed as to the latest practice news is to subscribe to practice news. This is located at the bottom of our main website page. If you enter your email address you will automatically be notified of anything posted. Our Practice Management are aware of the issue and are working hard to try to make additional clinics/locum resources so that we can clear the backlog to a more normal level where we can again meet our response target. Kind regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Virtually Impossible to Order a Repeat Prescription
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 22 June 2023
Cannot order my Repeat Prescription on Line because I cannot find my NHS Number Cannot look up my NHS Number because the records at the Surgery have data that is incorrect What is incorrect it does not say Try phoning to be told we cannot take requests by phone Do not live in Marlow, No Bus Service, so have to go to surgery to ask for a prescription so Pharmacy 2 U Cannot help either because I have to order through the Surgery System Which Will Not Work because I cannot access my NHS Number because the Surgery has the wrong data but does not say what that data clash is so I cannot correct because I do not know what to correct Retail Pharmacy say that they no longer take requests for repeat medication Catch-22 which only the Practice can correct?
Visited June 2023
Review titled The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group
Replied on 23 June 2023
I am very sorry to hear you have been unable to correct your NHS number and cannot order your repeat prescriptions. Please contact me via our secure complaints link and I will happily investigate and help you resolve your issues. https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/your-record/feedback-and-complaints/ Note do you not need your NHS number (it is optional) to order medications via our patient system Klinik. Go to our Marlow doctor's website: https://www.marlowdoctors.co.uk/. Click on the start now button at the top of the page. After saying you are registered click on the box called Medication Requests/Queries and then the box called I want to request my repeat (monthly/bimonthly) medication. You can then enter your request in the free text white box. Kind regards Maggi Dunn Patient Services Officer
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Review titled Excellent response and service
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Rosie Gilmore - Posted on 13 June 2023
My son is in the middle of his A levels and like many has experienced quite extreme hay-fever symptoms this summer. He began to experience problems with his breathing and was feeling very unwell which was affecting his ability to study, concentrate and sleep. An on-line request for a doctor's appointment was submitted at 1430, notification was received within 5 minutes and he was seen at 1630. He was treated in the surgery (nebuliser) and received a prescription to ensure he will be able to get through his exams without recurring symptoms. The service and level of care received from the practice and nurse was exceptional and is extremely appreciated.
Visited June 2023
The Doctors House, Marlow Medical Group has not yet replied.