GP at Hand Reviews 

Quite simply the best example to provide Wes Streeting with a reason not to let private health care take on NHS services. Exceptionally poor service in booking appointments since Emed took over in 2023, weeks to even speak to anyone let alone a gp. After weeks of waiting a call with a practice nurse lead to me receiving a message to book a face to face appt. When I used the link I was told no appointments were available and to either email (I did and received no reply in the next two weeks) or call. I managed to speak to someone eventually only to be told that there were no appointments this month and they could not book anything later as the system was being changed on 2 December. When I asked to speak to a manager i was told they do not take calls and there was nothing that could be done.
This is what happens when a health service is sold to a provider that only cares about profit - there is no surprise that there is an option for their weight loss programme (paid for) before the NHS option when you call them.
An absolutely abysmal service which has got worse and worse since emed took over.
The NHS should be ashamed to be in collaboration with this company

Gp didn’t turn up and there was no way to contact GP at hand to rebook the appointment. The chat service was automated and unable to help and the phone line had major delays and didn’t have an option to discuss appts missed by the GP.

I will likely be changing drs services following this.

The service has significantly deteriorated. In the past, it was possible to make an appointment within a few days, but now it takes weeks. My referral was cancelled after months of waiting, and no real reason was provided. The NHS is facing serious challenges, and this situation is not sustainable.

The clinic is super clean and welcoming. I was there for my smear test and my nurse Lauryn was just fantastic, so lovely and warm, explained the whole procedure, what it was for, what the next steps were, etc. She made me feel very at ease and safe, and made the whole appointment 10x better.

Great professional service

Being using them for years and always very professional

It feels that the service has too many demands placed on it and this is resulting in clinicians behaving like robots.

Before it was bought by an American company, Babylon was a great and fast service, operationally efficient (probably not financially as it went bust) but it work great for us patients.

I was not frequent user but when need I always had access to the professionals, either GP, nurse, pharmacist or other - it would take a few days, maximum a week but it would get done. Yes, continuity of care was a problem for those with chronic or acute conditions as you never get to see the same person but at least I could choose the time and even the person with the expertise I needed. This was reassuring.

Then, it came the buy out - EMED and changes on the way we book appointments ( apparently we should be able to book through the NHS app but there is nowhere to be seen yet?).

Now, oh well - I would not consider this a GP service now - I am considering going back to the traditional GP practices because:

-No GP appointments available at all ( looked until February)
-Takes 2 weeks to see an nurse practitioner
-No phone answered during the morning to book urgent reviews - you better call 111 honestly

This is inefficient, waste much more resources and time to patients and NHS staff - I understand the cost reduction needed but this is not a service at all now.

If the 0 would be an option this would be just about the right. I was waiting more than an hour for clinician to join but no luck ...as I needed to reorder medication which i am in need after I was apparently overdue for blood tests. I suppose to be getting 7days suppose which still has not been approved and I need to wait now 2 weeks for a new pappointment. Ridiculous and appalling.

Anna was great, took the time to listen, made an effort to speak to my son directly and generally was really proactive.

Only shame is that it now takes quite a while to get an appointment where before you could usually get on for the same week.

Great appointment

Efficient and smart way to get advice and prescriptions.

You have the country's best diabetic nurse. She has knowledge, clinical skills and is best at patient interaction.

Great Service. Dr Rubarani Balasothy demonstrated experienced, professionalism and genuine care.

2 weeks wait for a GP appointment is disappointed and appalling considering its a remote GP app.

However the doctor was Fantastic. Kudos to her. Will raise a separate feedback review for her.

I’ve been using GP at Hand for several years, and it has consistently provided a reliable and efficient service. The convenience of accessing healthcare remotely has been invaluable, especially during busy times. The staff are professional, and appointments are easy to book, with prompt and helpful consultations. This service has truly made healthcare more accessible and convenient for me. Highly recommend it for anyone looking for a dependable GP service that adapts to modern needs.

very clear, helpful and good advice

Not a valid service anymore. Not fit for purpose as you can’t get appointments, when you do they cancel and you can’t get another one for weeks.

This is not a service to use if you value your health.

Years ago when I started using GP at Hand, when it was still Babylon, the service was fantastic. I used to be able to book appointments with GPs over the phone within a few days, sometimes even same-day. There were a wide variety of time slots and I could book calls in the evenings when it's convenient for me.
The service unfortunately has gotten progressively busier over the years and now it is borderline unusable.
It takes 3-4 weeks to get an appointment now, sometimes longer.
To make matters worse my appointments are often cancelled. To wait a month to speak to someone about something urgent only to have your appointment cancelled and be told to book another one 3-4 weeks away is unbelievably frustrating, and terribly dangerous. I need urgent help with ongoing medical conditions and it's just not available.
Last month I had a GP call booked for 11.30, and they were over twenty minutes late calling me. When they did eventually call the line was bad and the line went dead while I was explaining what I needed help with. They called back but I couldn't hear anyone at all. They did not try to call back again and I had no way of contacting the GP to ask what the hell was going on.
It is unbelievably frustrating. I need urgent help with medication I am dependent on.

It is shocking that if a GP cancels your appointment you are forced to wait another three weeks or more for one, you should have emergency appointments available for people who get cancelled on that need urgent help. I am out of my medication and can’t get any more, I even tried to get an emergency prescription at my pharmacy but they couldn’t let me have them without GP approval, and were shocked when I told them how bad GP at Hand are now.

EMed keeps trying to get my reviews deleted but I will keep posting them because people need to know the truth.
I expect they will just reply with the same copy-and-paste reply they give to every other bad review, prime example of the fact there’s no personal service and they couldn’t care less about your patients.
And your reply is a lie, because the chat function in the app currently does not work. Last month I waited TWO HOURS and then it said ‘no agents are available right now’.
When I try and use the chat function now it just doesn’t work at all, it keeps ending the chat without connecting me to anyone.

I advise anyone to stay away from this service and stick with your regular GP.

I have received two referrals from GP at Hand and both times the exact same nonsense took place. The staff here are grossly incompetent and borderline negligent. They are understaffed for the number of patients they have. There is no accountability. And if you try to complain the staff refuse to ask the practice manager to call you - something their own complaints procedure says to do if you need to complain.

How Referrals from GP at Hand work:
1. You wait 2 weeks to get an appointment to see a nurse for a referral (direct GP appointments are not available).

2. The nurse sends the request to their referral team where a GP makes referral three-five days later.

3. Their admin staff enters the referral into the NHS system AND DOESNT LOOK AT YOUR ADDRESS, picking specialists or clinics over an hour away on the other side of the city instead of ones near you.

4. You wait on hold for two hours to speak to someone in order to request that they refer you to a specialist or clinic closer. You’re told they will submit a request to the referral team to make that change.

5. You wait two weeks and don’t hear anything back.

6. You call them again and wait on hold another two hours and get told the same line of submitting a request to the referral team.

7. Five days later you receive a text message that says “your original referral has been cancelled. Please book another appointment if you still need this referral”

And then the process starts all over again, including the two week wait before you can see anyone.

There is a difference between the NHS being under pressure and a private provider of NHS services understaffing a digital GP practice in the name of profits.