Menlo Park Recruitment

When we first started our search for a new GP we did not think we needed any help – our plan was to just advertise on the NHS Jobs site, place a hugely costly advert in the BMJ and the applicants would come flooding in!

The reality was something quite different – very few applicants and those who did apply were not suitable. A lot of time was spent getting nowhere!

I then had a call from Menlo Park and right from the outset I could really tell that they understood General Practice and what we were looking for.

They spent a lot of time working with me not only to identify the type of candidate we were looking for but also to get to know the practice – it was always about getting candidates who were the ‘right fit’ for us as a practice. I have not experienced this approach from other agencies who have approached us in the past.

The candidates presented were strong and fitted our requirements precisely making the overall selection process much easier.

We have now employed a really good GP who was not actively looking for a new role but that they could see would be a good fit for us – we are already getting great patient feedback.

The team have done a great job and we continue to keep in touch. I will definitely use Menlo Park again for our future recruitment needs.

Menlo Park have been a fantastic help to us on two occasions placing good doctors with us when it seemed like there were no doctors out there at all. They took time to understand the practice we run and gave an honest picture to various prospective doctors who came for interview. They called at convenient times, not minding the later calls after surgery when necessary and responded quickly to questions.

They arranged things very quickly with prospective doctors working flexibly and at short notice. It was made very clear that they tried to match people to the surgery and didn’t send people that weren’t interested and those that came had an idea about us and were looking for this type of practice. So it really helped us and made the process a lot easier.

The apparent high cost of using an agency did seem a lot and my experience with other agencies wasn’t that good; however, having spent a lot of money on failed advertising, and having used him once successfully I can offer no higher recommendation than the fact that we went back to them again without advertising for our next recruitment.

They were personable and really seem to care about getting the right person in to the right job. I wish we didn’t have to use an agency but now having found one that isn’t pushy and gives a personal service that works I would definitely use him again.

We had bad experiences with recruitment agencies and vowed never to use them again. That was until we heard about Menlo Park.

After unsuccessful GP recruitment at great expense, you worked with us to fill our vacancy. By fully understanding our needs and the culture of our practice, you reduced our time commitment immensely, a hidden cost that is so often forgotten. Recruitment can be soul destroying; extensive preparation, answering questions, entering into negotiations and being accommodating etc. to only find that the interest was never really going to be appropriate.

With the pressures of general practice and the ever increasing workloads we are always looking for ways to make best use of resources and by placing our recruitment needs in the capable hands of Menlo Park, time was freed up to concentrate on other areas of the business.

After such a positive experience, we have no hesitation in using Menlo Park for our future recruitment needs and for providing this recommendation to other practices.

We have used recruitment agencies previously, with very mixed results.  However, Menlo Park were a breath of fresh air.

Our initial discussions were in depth and detailed.  The questions made sense and you really listened to what we needed and wanted.

You were very aware of the current challenges in recruiting GPs and were open and honest about how we “matched up” to other practices.

We managed to recruit a salaried GP through Menlo Park and it has been a fantastic experience – so much so that after 3 months, we offered partnership and the Doctor accepted!

I cannot recommend Menlo Park highly enough.  At last a recruitment agency that is worth the fee.

This was our first experience of using a recruitment agency to help fill our salaried GP vacancy. We entered the process with some trepidation about costs and success rates, but what a surprise.

You listened to what we wanted, understood what we wanted, translated it into a campaign and more importantly were transparent with the costs. We were lucky enough to find the perfect applicant within weeks and at every stage from the sharing of the CV until the completion of the probation period, you communicated with the practice and the doctor, resolving any issues to ensure both parties were happy.

We would highly recommend Menlo Park and have done so to a neighbouring practice who have had the same successful outcome.

We had a GP opt to take 24hr retirement and were filling their reduced sessions with a long term locum whilst informally looking to fill the 6 session vacancy. We had tried jobs fairs and networking with known independent locums with no success.

I took an opportunistic call from Menlo Park and I’m so pleased I did! They had a candidate looking initially at a salaried position but with a view to partnership for 6 sessions. It felt too good to be true!

However we didn’t just want to accept the first candidate that came along so we had a good long chat. They were interested in our needs, ethos and culture as well as understanding the skill gaps that the reduction in sessions had exposed.

They articulated the skills and aspirations of the candidate and happily liaised between us until a date was arranged to meet up.

The process was very smooth and stress-free with you co-ordinating where appropriate but also happy for us to liaise with the candidate direct and keep you in the picture.

I would recommend Menlo Park, as they listen to you and care about the candidates they place.

The aftercare, once the candidate starts, it also pitched at a perfect level with a smooth stepdown after 3 months in position.

You were extremely helpful, from the start, in helping me to successfully secure a salaried GP role.

As a soon-to-be newly-qualified GP I was nervous about applying for my first ‘proper’ GP role but you guided me through the process and were always on hand to answer questions and liaise with the practice on my behalf, making the process remarkably stress-free from my point of view.

You provided me with useful guidance about interview techniques and also checked in with me on more than one occasion, after I had started the role, to check that I was getting on ok.

All in all I really appreciated your helpful and friendly presence throughout the process and would heartily recommend you to practices or GPs who are thinking of using a recruitment agency.

The best move we made when looking for a GP Partner was definitely contacting Menlo Park.

We had spent a lot of time and money with adverts in different places with no results.  The moment we contacted Menlo Park they were very proactive, sending us CVs and arranging practice visits, we recruited within 3 months!

I would recommend them to anyone in our situation and will be using them again.

I am pleased to recommend Menlo Park to anyone who is looking to employ a General Practitioner.

We have a complex set up, running two entities within one organisation and getting the right person was very important to us.

The Consultant understood exactly what the needs of the Practice and Walk in Centre was and sourced appropriate candidates for interviews. We have successfully appointed the right candidate to the position of Salaried GP and we are very happy with the outcome.

It has been a pleasure working with an organisation that will listen to you and understand your individual needs.

I would not hesitate to recommend Menlo Park to anyone who is struggling to find the right candidate and

We had the daunting prospect of recruiting a new GP but the time taken by Menlo Park to establish a comprehensive knowledge of our practice and an understanding of our requirements ensured that all candidates that were forwarded were relevant to our vacancy.

This also ensured that potential candidates were also fully briefed regarding our surgery before their CV’s were submitted to us. Communication from Menlo Park whether by phone or email was only made when appropriate and any query from us was dealt with very thoroughly and promptly.

As a consequence of this very professional service, we successfully recruited a GP who was completely compatible with our existing close team of clinicians and admin staff and has proved a substantial asset to the practice.

I have also received subsequent follow-up calls from them to ensure that all is well and to welcome any feedback.

I have dealt with many recruitment agencies but I have to say that Menlo Park have been one of the most professional that I have encountered and would have no hesitation in recommending them.

I have worked with Menlo Park on two GP recruitments now.

As a Practice we thought carefully about the cost of recruitment via a recruitment agency; we concluded that it would be money wisely spent when compared to recruitment costs of the more traditional recruitment methods where no appointment might be made.

The key to ensuring value for money is working with a good recruitment consultant. Menlo Park got to know our organisation, what we wanted, our way of working etc. This, in turn, meant that they sourced good calibre candidates who were looking for similar things as our Practice was seeking.

I’m pleased to say that the GPs appointed through their introductions continue to prove valuable additions to our Practice. I would certainly recommend Menlo Park to other Practices.

I have been working with Menlo Park on recruiting for a number of positions over a period of nearly a year. They always take the time to fully understand our needs for any role we are working together on, and establish a depth of knowledge of the practice that I have not seen from any other agency.

Those candidates we have been presented for consideration have all been very credible, and the fact that the majority of our new starters over this period have come from Menlo Park speaks volumes.

It has been a pleasure working with the team, and they are certainly our preferred supplier for any future recruitment needs.

Menlo Park worked tirelessly to find suitable GP candidates in very tough times and found five potential candidates; one was offered a role and has now been with us for three months, she’s great!

They were communicative and pro-active, coupled with a professional but friendly attitude. I have already referred Menlo Park onto colleagues within our CCG and would certainly not hesitate to use them again for the right vacancy.

We had previously advertised and used another agency, but ultimately, had been unsuccessful in finding someone for our Salaried GP (with a view to partnership) position. We had specific requirements that we had to meet and they took the time to understand what we were looking for. As a result, they only submitted candidates that matched the exact brief. Within 4 days of us agreeing to work together, we had two candidates to consider. Both candidates were taken through a two stage process; informal, followed by formal meetings with the Partners.

Prior to the meetings, they supplied interview advice to both parties and co-ordinated the meeting times. By the end of the process, we were able to secure our number one choice. At the beginning of the process, we had been made aware of the GPs expectations, which you don’t often have the luxury of during the recruitment process, which allowed us to table an offer that was accepted on the spot. We are really pleased with our new GP and feel that they will be a positive addition to the team.

A fellow practice manager recommended Menlo Park to me – and I’m so glad they did!

Our practice had been through a tough time and we had a daunting 14 vacant GP sessions to fill. They quickly and professionally gained an understanding of our practice; both from a business and a cultural perspective.

They were very adept at explaining our complicated situation to prospective candidates, so there were no surprises when we came to meet. They have placed two excellent GPs with us this year alone, both of whom have fitted in brilliantly to our team and who receive very positive patient feedback. The agency cost was more than met by the locum fees we would have incurred whilst trying to recruit. We will certainly continue to work closely with Menlo Park for any future recruitment requirements – indeed I have recommended them to my PM colleagues already.

Just a short note to thank you for your work with our recent recruitment problems.

You have always been professional good humoured and have kept in touch.

We had a couple of mis-starts but you kept going and found us two excellent new recruits.

Please feel free to refer future customers to me if they want a reference.

We used the usual channels to recruit a GP last year but failed to attract a suitable candidate.

Menlo Park approached us with a suitable candidate who was not applying via the normal routes. Right from the start of the process to the culmination when we appointed this excellent candidate.

Menlo Park proved to be efficient, transparent and professional.  We will definitely use them in the future.

We had bad experiences with recruitment agencies and vowed never to use them again. That was until we heard about Menlo Park.

After unsuccessful GP recruitment at great expense, you worked with us to fill our vacancy. By fully understanding our needs and the culture of our practice, you reduced our time commitment immensely, a hidden cost that is so often forgotten. Recruitment can be soul destroying; extensive preparation, answering questions, entering into negotiations and being accommodating etc. to only find that the interest was never really going to be appropriate.

With the pressures of general practice and the ever increasing workloads we are always looking for ways to make best use of resources and by placing our recruitment needs in the capable hands of Menlo Park, time was freed up to concentrate on other areas of the business.

After such a positive experience, we have no hesitation in using Menlo Park for our future recruitment needs and for providing this recommendation to other practices.

I recently returned to work after a break on maternity leave and feel very lucky to have landed a role as a salaried GP in a welcoming practice in Sussex. This is all down to you, and your contact via a colleague (which I had consented to). You were efficient at getting in touch, following up calls when you said you would, but at no point did I feel hassled or pressured into applying. You listened to my hopes and job requirements and made realistic recommendations, avoiding jobs that were too far away or in practices that did not sound suitable.

When it came to arranging the interview this was done efficiently and you were very helpful in giving some advice prior to the meeting. He followed up the interview and helpfully kept me informed of progress.

I am very happy in this job which I feel you were able to direct me to, as you were well informed about the nature of the post and the kind of person the surgery were looking for. I would definitely recommend Menlo Park if you are looking for work but not quite sure of what’s out there.

I also just wanted to say thank you for all your help in finding me a job. This was the first time I’d spoken to anyone from a recruitment agency. I was somewhat nervous about this and you talked me through what to expect and really seem to have endeavoured to match me to a suitable practice and vice versa. You have kept me informed about things throughout proceedings and I really appreciate the extra time you have spent and help you have given me. You have changed my opinion of recruiting agencies significantly for the better.

I thought you were very good in understanding my needs and finding the right placement. The follow up was amazing and you set up the right interview at the right time in the right place.

It is going very well at the Orchard and although is a busy place the support from staff and colleagues is amazing. I could not value more your help and support during the process of recruitment. I thought I would do it by myself, but you have been brilliant.

You couldn’t have been more helpful. I was looking for my first GP job after finishing training and relocating 180 miles, so it was a daunting prospect.

I felt that I was listened to and you respected my views as to what I was looking for, rather than sending any old job in my direction.

You were helpful and took all of the legwork out of finding the right job. You assisted right through the entire process, giving me interview and new job advice along the way, and making sure once I was in post, I was settled.

I really valued your personable approach and would happily ask for your help again should I come to need it in future, but you’ve done such a good job at finding the right match between me and the practice, I don’t expect I’ll need to!

You were patient and listened to what I was looking for; finding me the right practice, where I have now settled in and am happy as a salaried Doctor.

You regularly kept me up to date, throughout the process. You even gave me a follow up call after 4 weeks of me settling in to the role to find out if everything was in line with my expectations.

I have dealt with other agencies before and they did not offer me the same level of professionalism or understanding of the GP market.

Patrick made contact with me via Linked In.  Previously I had only dealt directly with employers and so was not sure what to expect from a recruitment consultant.  Patrick was in contact and made the whole process easy with regular clear communication

We have worked with Menlo Park now for the recruitment of two staff members. The results have been very good; we are delighted with our new team members. The Menlo team spent time understanding our needs and gave us good quality candidates from the outset. I consider their fee an investment not a cost and will use Menlo again when we have a vacancy for a GP, a clinical pharmacist or an ECP. We have saved a lot of time and energy by using Menlo and would not hesitate to recommend their services.