West Malling Group Practice - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
-
Review titled Seriously appalling
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Aveline - Posted on 09 February 2024
The appointment system here is appalling. The practice make it totally impossible to get an appointment. These can only be made on the day! Covering such a vast catchment area as soon as they open, the lines are blocked. We have phoned over 30 times in the past week and still have not been able to make an appointment for my sickly mother. They open at 8:15, the lines are full within two seconds, Advanced bookings are refused, and the doctor recall system does not work. You have to chase constantly for prescriptions sent to them from hospital doctors to be actioned. My mum has been a patient of this practice for over 45 years. She never gets to see the same doctor and none of them know her or her case which is quite remarkable and shameful.
Visited February 2024
Review titled West Malling Group Practice
Replied on 16 February 2024
We are sorry to learn of your experience. We offer on the day, telephone triage and advanced bookings. Patients ringing in also have the option to request a call back to save waiting on the line. We will be more than happy to respond to you direct if you wish to contact us via our website westmallinggp.nhs.uk.
-
Review titled Appointment system not fit for purpose
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Chris Chaplin - Posted on 30 September 2022
Almost impossible to make an appointment by phone. Call on the stroke of 8.15 a.m. to be told there are too many ppl in the queue. Call later for results and get put on hold for almost an hour with no answer. Go in person with no resolution. The gatekeepers and appointment system mean you can't actually get an appointment. No system that allows discrete dropping off of samples. Its just gets worse and worse. To be fair the GPs are almost always sympathetic and proactive with the problem once you actually fight your way passed the front desk and the flu jab system was well organised. Overall these guys really need more slack in the system with more premises or more staff.
Visited September 2022
Review titled West Malling Group Practice
Replied on 15 December 2022
We are sorry you have had difficulties with our services. The demand for appointments is particularly high and we are working hard to meet demand with the resources available. Being on hold for an hour is totally unacceptable. For service improvement, we have recently upgraded our telephone system, which now enables patients to request a call back rather than holding. Samples must be clearly labelled otherwise they cannot be sent off to the laboratory. Reception will ask patients to confirm their details to prevent the sample being destroyed. Samples can also be placed in a sealed envelope as long as it is labelled clearly
-
Review titled Impossible to contact them
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Lighthouse Keeper - Posted on 12 September 2022
I have been on the phone on 4 different occasions today and one of these was for over 1 hour waiting in a queue. I was told that I was 18th in the queue and I reached 6 in that hour. I had to give up after an hour because I had a meeting. I am now in another queue. I have phoned at 815 but missed today's appointments because the queue was full. At 10.20am I was on the phone in a queue for an hour but did not get through. I am now on the phone again and in another queue. All I require is someone to review my prescription - I don't even need to see anyone.
Visited September 2022
Review titled West Malling Group Practice
Replied on 30 September 2022
We are sorry you have experienced problems trying to contact us by phone. We endeavour to answer calls as quickly as possible to keep call wait times to acceptable levels however this has been challenging as some calls are complex. We deploy staff from other teams within the Practice to answer calls at peak times in an attempt to reduce call wait times. In addition, we have recruited new receptionists to the team who will be answering calls as soon as they have received training. Patients are also able to contact us via our contact submission available on our website westmallinggp.nhs.uk