Star Lane Medical Centre

Patient Experience Summary

Feedback reflects a mixed experience across the practice, with notable strengths in clinical care and wellbeing services alongside persistent challenges with appointment access and reception communication. Patients consistently praise clinicians for demonstrating compassion, listening skills, and responsiveness, with particular appreciation for social prescribing, coaching services, and specialist referrals. However, significant concerns emerge around appointment availability, with multiple reports of difficulty securing slots and lengthy waiting times. Reception experience presents a recurring issue, with patients describing interactions as discourteous, dismissive, and lacking patience, particularly during phone calls. Several patients noted that calls were disconnected prematurely or staff appeared unwilling to engage with concerns.

Administrative responsiveness remains problematic, with delayed responses to online requests, medication approvals taking months, and referral confirmations not being provided. Some patients reported feeling their health needs were not adequately prioritised, with concerns about slow specialist referrals and incomplete information transfer between services. Communication accessibility also emerged as a concern, particularly for patients less familiar with digital systems or with language barriers.

Despite these challenges, the practice demonstrates capability in delivering comprehensive care when patients access services. Continuity of care is valued where achieved, and the practice's wellbeing and community initiatives receive positive feedback. The contrast between clinical excellence and administrative difficulties suggests the practice would benefit from enhanced reception training, improved communication systems, and more responsive handling of online requests to better support patients navigating the service.