Lowther Medical Centre - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
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Review titled Good experience
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Mr K Rothery - Posted on 17 April 2024
I had a appointment at the surgery the DR was very professional and thorough.I believe he is a trainee GP,I am sure he will make a very good GP.
Visited April 2024
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 18 April 2024
Thank you so much for taking the time to upload this positive feedback via this website for Lowther Medical Centre. It is very much appreciated. I will ensure your comments are passed to the GP who I know will be delighted with your feedback. With our best regards, Alison
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Review titled Impossible to get through
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Liz - Posted on 09 March 2024
I have been trying for 2 weeks now to get a doctors appointment for my nephew who is an adult with Learning difficulties. The first few times I rang about on average 20 times in an hour and failed to even get in the queue. All I got was the engaged tone for about 6 seconds and then cut off. I subsequently decided to spend the whole hour between 8am - 9am one morning repeatedly redialling every time I got cut off. I rang 38 times in total before getting the message all appointments had gone! The last time I attempted to call I again rang repeatedly every time I got cut off - it took 58 times of trying before I even got in the queue! When I actually spoke to a human at 9.10am i was again told all appointments had gone and to ring back on Monday!! I am at a complete loss to understand why in 2024 it is impossible to get through to a surgery over weeks of trying. I actually do not know what else to do and could cry in frustration.
Visited March 2024
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 18 April 2024
It is disappointing to read your review. I am sorry to read of your experience when you try to call the practice. As you have not provided the dates you have attempted to call I am unable to look into your concerns and respond via this website. The practice use a cloud based telephone system as recommended for GP practices and the telephone queue is capped at a certain number of callers. If you don’t get into the queue this means that the ‘waiting lines’ are busy and you would have to redial. We have a team of dedicated call handlers answering all calls so you should be able to get into the call queue fairly quickly although I appreciate that the waits can be lengthy at certain times of the day. How long each call lasts for is not something we have any control over as we do not rush patients who have questions to ask us. When we are made aware of any issues with the telephone lines we report these to the external company who manage the system. You are able to contact the complaints team directly by using the link available through the practice website. Kind regards, Alison Patient Experience
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Review titled Problems are serious with this surgery.
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Gerard Mark McGonagle - Posted on 11 October 2023
I wrote a review a few months ago but considering the amount of time wasted trying to get through to this surgery I have to revisit again. I needed a fit note renewed early because the last fit note I got was supposed to be for a month but only covered two weeks & contacting this surgery is beyond ridiculous. The note was supposed to be sent out via e-mail but I had to call in the surgery to pick it up because they forgot to send it. Well done. I've called them several times this week where you are put in a que & have to wait for 15, 20, 30 mins or more only to finally get through to a ring tone & have nobody pick up the phone. I actually went down today to the surgery while I was still on the phone & finally connected to someone just as I got into reception so the system does work, but the phone had been ringing (passed the que phase) in the surgery for at least 10 minutes with nobody picking it up. I saw at least 4 people in the reception area so the "understaffed" excuse really doesn't wash. I was then told by someone on reception (some kid who really didn't seem to know what was happening) that I would get my fit note renewed but that I would have to contact them to pick it up when it's ready. How am I supposed to know when it's ready without contacting the surgery? I just get the distinct feeling he didn't actually know what to do & was fobbing me off & as I've explained, trying to contact the surgery is a joke. I don't hold out any hope of getting this note because I just don't want to waste any more time on the phone trying to contact a surgery that clearly doesn't care. Months after my initial review & things haven't improved what so ever.
Visited October 2023
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 20 December 2023
Dear Gerrard I was sorry to read your review and note you mention a previous review, submitted a few months ago. I have checked back our previous response to you and can see that we provided you with detail of our complaints email address for you to use should you experience any further issues when you are trying to contact the practice by telephone. If you would like me to look into any of the specific concerns you mention I can do this for you through our formal complaints process. Information on submitting a complaint can also be found on the practice website. The email address is nencicb-cu.lowthercomplaints@nhs.net Kind regards, Alison
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Review titled Difficult to get appointments
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 27 July 2023
My husband got through at 8am and was told someone would ring him in the afternoon. He would have been around to receive the call but someone rang at 10.15 and he missed it. If we had a GP appointment at 3pm and turned up at 10.15 demanding to be seen it wouldn’t happen, so why aren’t appointments stuck to the other way round? Then he got a text saying he was not available to take the call.
Visited July 2023
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 25 September 2023
I am sorry that there was an issue with your husband’s appointment timing. We do not provide an exact appointment time for telephone consultations and he should have been informed of this information when the appointment was being made. The only advice provided is normally this would be a morning or afternoon call. If your husband wishes to provide me with some further information on when this appointment was booked I will be able to look into the detail. I can be contacted on nencicb-cu.lowthercomplaints@nhs.net Kind regards, Alison Patient Engagement
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Review titled Impossible to get anyone to answer the phone.
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Gerard McGonagle - Posted on 19 June 2023
Reception is really poor at responding to calls. How can you wait in a que for 15-20 mins, sometimes longer, to finally get through to a ringing tone & then have nobody answer? What is this? An exercise in how to throw money down a drain in telephone costs while you get nowhere? The system is broken beyond belief, not fit for purpose.
Visited June 2023
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 03 July 2023
Dear Gerrard I am sorry to read of your problems when you try to call the practice. We report all issues to the external company who manage our phone lines when we are made aware of a problem. It is helpful to us if you can report when this happens so that we are able to contact our telephone supplier to report a fault. Without the detail of this happening we are unable to try and get it fixed. Please do drop us an email at nencicb-cu.lowthercomplaints@nhs.net if you experience any further issues and we will report the fault Kind regards, Alison Patient Experience
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Review titled Absokute joke
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 20 April 2023
Waited on the phone 1 hr 8 mins to be told no appointments why no msg to say all appointments gone useless cznt cope since merging waste of space
Visited April 2023
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 03 July 2023
It is disappointing to read your review. As you have chosen to remain anonymous I am unable to look into your concerns at this time. If you are unhappy with the practice, or your care and treatment you do have the right to complain. Please contact nencicb.lowthercomplaints@nhs.net and provide your contact details if you wish to raise a formal complaint. Kind regards, Alison Patient Experience
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Review titled Appointment system sucks
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Mark Mallard - Posted on 09 February 2023
Having been deleted from patient access without warning and being unable to get back on it ( tried for over a year ) and finding the other online appointment booking software bugged and unworkable ( reported to developer ) i am forced to use the awful telephone booking service. Its not the people there that suck but their inflexibility is not helping. Phone bookings need a rethink. Two hours in a queue and either my phone dies or i get cut off or there are no appointments left and no you cant have an appointment tomorrow you have to repeat the process, sometimes for days. It is very very inefficient for everyone involved. Please rethink it for everyones sanity. Of course there will be staff shortages when all your patients are exasperated and angry. This will not change until there are changes to the phone appointment booking system. Lots of patients just want a telephone consult with a GP for a few minutes, which will reduce your normal time consuming surgery appointments rapidly.
Visited February 2023
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 05 April 2023
Dear Mark I was sorry to read your one star review. I can only apologise that you are having difficulty with your patient app. The apps are not managed by the practice as you have indicated, I hope the developer was able to help you with your issues. Appointments are released each morning on the app at 6am and when they are gone they are gone. You would then have to call the practice to make an appointment. Our phone lines are very busy but our reception team do try to get through all the calls as quickly as they can and provide help and support to all callers. Another option that you could consider is using the on-line consult, available through the practice website. This is particularly suitable for non emergency appointments and patients have the option within each section to'contact the practice about...' Kind regards, Alison Patient Experience
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Review titled Appalling - life is too short, go elsewhere.
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Stephen Duguid - Posted on 18 October 2022
After spending two days and several hours, calling this surgery more than 200 times, only to get the 'engaged' ring tone, we were eventually put on the call waiting list. After 30 mins on the call waiting list, progressing through to 'caller 4', we were cut off. Having visited the surgery in complete frustration, we were told to phone again tomorrow. This is completely unacceptable - I can definitely understand why significant numbers of people opt to go straight to accident and emergency. This surgery needs a major shake up, new phone systems and new office staff!
Visited October 2022
Review titled Lowther Medical Centre
Replied on 05 November 2022
Stephen I am sorry that you are finding it difficult to get through on the phone to make an appointment. The phone system is relatively new and fully auditable. If a patient reports a fault then we are able to have this checked. Without knowing there may be an issue then we cannot take steps to resolve it. The practice has been short staffed and on occasions there have been a significant drop in the staff numbers being able to answer the calls. We are trying our best to get through each call as efficiently as we can and provide help to every patient we speak to. We operate an emergency on the day’s appointment system and have a few pre bookable appointments but when these are booked they are booked. We add as many appointment slots as we have staff to complete the consultation. There are alternative ways to contact the practice for non-emergency conditions and more information on the online consults can be found on the practice website https://www.lowthermedical.co.uk/ The practice does not recommend that patients go straight to accident & emergency as this is not appropriate, the practice advise patients to contact the 111 /CHOC service if they cannot wait until the next day as this service has direct access to clinicians. If you require any further help or information I can be contacted via email on nencicb-cu.lowthercomplaints@nhs.net Kind regards Alison Patient Experience
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