Whittaker Lane Med Centre - Ratings and reviews
Reviews
-
Review titled Lovely Practice
Rated 4 stars out of 5
by Emma - Posted on 18 December 2023
I wanted to leave this review as I do love this practice and have been with them for many many years, when you do manage to get through and book an appointment/speak with the team they are always so helpful and very knowledgeable. I do think the practice has struggled post-covid as booking an appointment now is much harder than it used to be and the AskMyGP system definitely worked better than the current Patient Access App, as others have said, I have yet to see a single day where appointments are available via the app. Whilst I do think that the app feature could be improved (it's still definitely easier to ring and be sat on hold to get an appointment) the surgery ha great staff and will get you in and work with you to find a suitable appoitment so I will continue to love and recommend wlmc.
Visited December 2023
Whittaker Lane Med Centre has not yet replied.
-
Review titled Absolutely Useless
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 23 October 2023
I just cannot deal with the incompetence from this practice. You phone in to be told to go onto Patient Access to book your appointment. Go onto Patient Access, then there's no way to book an appointment. Want to book an asthma review or a flu jab? Over a month's waiting time. I've been ill for over a week with what I think is a sinus/chest infection and I've had pneumonia before but this practice simply doesn't care. The nhs's advice? "If your cough persists for more than 3 weeks then phone your gp". Good luck with that, you'll never get an appointment anyway so you might as well just keel over and accept your fate. I also love that they're accepting new patients when they can't even handle the patients they have now.
Visited October 2023
Review titled Whittaker Lane Med Centre
Replied on 25 October 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for your feedback. Please accept our sincere apologies for the experience you have had with the practice. We appreciate appointments on patient access can be very limited at times. As patients are directed to the system of support, when booking appointments they often are booked very quickly. However, appointments are released on a daily basis to avoid patients booking too far in advance and leaving no availability. As well as the daily release, we have on-call Doctors every morning and afternoon who are there to triage all urgent requests on the day. These are steps that we have put in place quite recently based on recent patient survey to assist with the pressures. We have received fantastic feedback that this is working for our patients. Regards WLMC Team
-
Review titled No available appointments
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 14 August 2023
When you can get an appointment the service has been ok. However, there are no GP appointments available even though I've been checking on the app at 8am for over a week. It's ridiculous that you can't book in advance and that's just for a telephone appointment. And that even when you need a physical appointment you are still first given a telephone session. I'd like to know what work is being done to improve the service.
Visited August 2023
Whittaker Lane Med Centre has not yet replied.
-
Review titled Terrible Service - doing anything to avoid seeing patients
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 May 2023
Just called up and been told I can't have an appointment today and the best thing to do is to go in to the practice at 8am tomorrow and book myself in for a telephone appointment and then the doctor would then see if I was needed to come in to the practice - are we still operating as if we were in lockdown!? I am a type 1 diabetic patient and have been misdiagnosed by this practice before so why on earth would I trust them to diagnose me correctly over the phone - I dread to think how many times they are doing this to other people. Please avoid, I am going to look at changing practices.
Visited May 2023
Review titled Whittaker Lane Med Centre
Replied on 24 May 2023
Dear Patient Thank you for your comment We are very sorry to hear that you have had a less than perfect experience at the practice. If you would like to contact the practice and ask for the manager, I will be more than happy to discuss this issues and the access pathways we are currently working with Best regards WLMC
-
Review titled Old Fashioned Service
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 21 February 2023
Hard to comment on the services because I struggle to use them. I have to phone hundreds of times to get through. When I do I am met by a tired voice repeating a line they must have said over and over again that there is nothing available. It is a shame because this was once a great practice.
Visited February 2023
Whittaker Lane Med Centre has not yet replied.
-
Review titled Good old fashioned service with a smile
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Dee Ince-Lawal - Posted on 10 February 2023
I have nothing but praise yet again for the team at this surgery. They are a good old fashioned team that will do their best to actually communicate face to face regardless of the current climate. Communication from reception to medical staff is second to none and always with a smile and professional. The doctors have been amazing for both myself and my child, the vulnerable are always top priority here. I have had swift resolutions to medical problems, these doctors are professional, ethical geniuses. They deserve all the praise. Thankyou
Visited February 2023
Whittaker Lane Med Centre has not yet replied.
-
Review titled Great practice
Rated 5 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 21 September 2022
I could not praise all the staff at this practice enough! They are by far one of the best practices we have ever attended. They have gone above and beyond regardless of restraints, and they do listen. Thankyou
Visited September 2022
Whittaker Lane Med Centre has not yet replied.
-
Review titled Poor customer service.
Rated 2 stars out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 24 November 2022
I had x-rays done at North Manchester NHS Trust as per the referral letter from Whittaker Lane GP practice on 09/09/2022. Nearly 11 weeks on and the x-rays are still not available to be assessed. Each time I phone to see if they have available, I get told to phone the x-ray dept at North Manchester who then tell me to ring my GP practice. I have also been told to ring Fairfield hospital who then tell me to ring my GP practice. When I eventually get through to the GP practice, I get told there is nothing they can do and to keep phoning the x-ray dept at the hospital. It is now way beyond a joke I have lost count the number of phone calls I have made. I even called into the surgery to I asked if I could go and have the x-rays done again at a different hospital and was told I would need to make an appointment with the GP to get a new referral letter. I was told the only way I could book an appointment was through the Patient Access app even though I was stood in the surgery. The money that is wasted in the NHS is unbelievable. I feel I have no other option but to write this review.
Visited September 2022
Review titled Whittaker Lane Med Centre
Replied on 28 November 2022
Dear Patient thank you for your feedback We offer our sincere apologies for the inconvenience this situation has caused you. There are boroughwide issues with North Manchester Hospital and X-rays at present. However, I can reassure you that Greater Manchester Shared Services are trying to find a quick solution to them at present. If you would like to contact the Practice Directly, we will do everything in our power to assist you. thank you Practice Manager
-
Review titled Cannot even make an appointment
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 03 May 2022
Ask my GP is only available between 7-11am but is switched off most days after 10/15 mins so can hardly ever get on it. Cannot ring to make appointments in an afternoon so have to ring at 8am but the line is always busy and you can never get through until the afternoon when you are told to use ask my GP or ring at 8. What is the point of having a GP when they make it nearly impossible for you to actually speak to someone.
Visited May 2022
Review titled Whittaker Lane Med Centre
Replied on 04 May 2022
Dear Patient, Thank you for your feedback. At the start of the pandemic, all Bury GP Practices were encouraged, and quite quickly, to move to a triage and on-line consultation processes named ASKMYGP. Practices encourage patients to create accounts on askmygp so that the GP can triage and invite, where necessary, ensuring that no patient is missed. This also reduces waiting times on the phone. The system is switched on at 7.00am Mon-Fri and must be turned off when we reach a safe and manageable capacity. However, anything urgent/on the day can be called through directly to the practice. Consultation times are lengthier, and the phone lines are tied up longer due to the triage processes. GPs are spending longer with patients to ensure their medical needs are addressed accordingly. This system must be limited to ensure it is managed safely. Administrators are spending more time on the phones creating on-line requests on behalf of patients who do not have access to on-line services i.e. frail , elderly and vulnerable. This is a service that we take pride in offering and is unavoidable. Face to Face appointments are offered by the GP and clinicians after triage and we have more staff, both clinical and non-clinical than we did pre-pandemic, this also contributes to the busy phone’s lines, the more staff we have, the more phones are being used. However, we have recently purchased an additional 4 telephone lines to assist with this workflow. We are sorry that you have had to rise your concerns and offer our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused. We are doing everything in our power to ensure that we provide the best services possible under the current pressures. WLMC Team