Mackenzie Medical Centre

I'm not British or European but I have a visa to be here and all the associated documentation, including more than adequate proof of residence nearby. Registering was nevertheless unnecessarily difficult, and the reception/admin staff continues to be less than desired - however I have to acknowledge they must be one of the busiest GP's in the city and their client base must be quite difficult to manage. Anyway, due to their nurses and doctors that I have seen, I need to rate them at least four stars. GP's are always going to attract negative reviews, but by and large this place has always been helpful for me and apart from the negative experience I have with admin, the clinical staff have always been efficient, kind, and thorough.

The recepition staff are a real cold bunch its as if its there job not to give you an appointment at all.All of the doctors are lovey at this practise if you can get an appointment with them.

This is a very very special medical practice' from domestic to doctor,and professors" and the front line ( resption staff ) is amazing " yes no nonsense ! Just sense and beautiful hearts that the same with doctors ! This is a great teamwork! Saved many life's!!! , Nurses the same it's very coordinated medical staff Ave ever seen ! And have worked at a very large surgery myself!! So full respect to all of them" do amazing work !!! , With love Miss J . Kerr, many thanks xxxxx

I've been there couple of times in last 4 years. Hate to talk to reception staff always feel unwelcome and neglected but if you get through them it's fine. Good doctor and really lovely nurses especially Julie!
Phone is really busy but they always pick it up.
Sent mss to yur phone to remind you about yr appointment really handy!

A decent practice if you have something very simple to treat, but if you have something harder to diagnose, they will not lift a finger to help you. Given my troubling test results (which clearly indicate disease but are inconclusive about which disease exactly), they should have referred me for further testing weeks ago, automatically. They did nothing. I have been in pain for 6 weeks, they ruled out a bacterial infection twice, and gave me antibiotics twice anyway. I had to research what sorts of further tests I need myself. They referred me only after I went in again and told them to. I will now have to wait a further 4-6 weeks to do tests that together take less than a day to carry out. If they had handled it professionally and efficiently I would already have a diagnosis. Some of the conditions they need to test me for have complications if not treated quickly. They are friendly, but so badly organised it's borderline neglect. I recommend registering at a different practice.

When I registered they didn"t even knew where my street was. I had to show a map of Edinburgh to them and that was not even sufficient...
Then it's nearly impossible to get anykind of appointment ever.
Really bad service and not even polite !

See my review for St Leonard's Medical Practice for why this merits one star more.

It appears to be a systemic issue that GP front-line staff have no clue when it comes registering people who are in their 'grey area': job seeking and on a short-term visa longer than 6 months.
Please know that in order to be on the visa we are on, we have to pay IHS beforehand, entitling us to NHS access.

You are meant to facilitate the public to access treatment - NOT to act as immigration enforcement!

While I had to deal with three different staff on reception and duck out to get a signal to show proof I have paid IHS after showing my passport, visa, BRP card and still being asked where I am from....blimey, all I can say is at least it was all done in one visit and I'm going to be properly registered....AFTER I submit a urine sample, get my weight, height, waist circumference measured. Now, what's that all about?

Side note: You can ask for a letter stating why the GP practice refused registering you so that NHS Lothian can help you find a less discriminatory practice.

I second Jessica's observation that the receptionist staff can be a bit racist, but the doctors are good.

The receptionist staff will be excessively vigilant about denying people medical care based on technicalities if they seem foreign. Rather than working with people to help them get care within the system, they seem to treat new patients as adversaries. They don't try to explain or educate patients as to why they are denying care, either. I've witnessed many emotional breakdowns at their reception desk from people who are just trying to find treatment.