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Poor experience when booking an appointment

Posted By neptunefc56

"Poor experience when booking an appointment"

About: Inverclyde Royal Hospital / Health Records

(as the patient),

I have recently had my hip replaced, and received a letter to call and make a physio appointment. I received the letter on a Wednesday, the letter is dated 7 days earlier. I believe the postage delay was due to local public holidays. I tried to call many many times, often waiting over 20 minutes from being 10th in the queue. Multiple times I was teaching first or second and then being disconnected. 

I finally managed to get through  and I am in utter disbelief at the poor service I received. I am upset even having to write this as I support and work for NHS but the staff member I spoke to just now I found a very unkind person. They repeatedly told me I must have not tried to call, that I wouldn’t have waited for more than 1 minute if I did call etc.

I found their manner exceptionally rude and condescending, something I do not and should not need to be dealing with after undergoing such a big surgery and trying to recover. They would not make the appointment for me and advised I need to have the referral re-sent; I don’t even know how to do this.

I did end by disconnecting the call due to this call handler as I was getting upset due to their manner. We’re all supposed to work together and support each other to keep the NHS moving in the right direction and providing the vital services that we all need. 

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Responses

Response from Nicole McInally, Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 9 months ago
Nicole McInally
Patient Experience and Public Involvement Project Manager, PEPI,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Submitted on 02/08/2023 at 15:46
Published on Care Opinion at 15:46

picture of Nicole McInally

Posted on behalf of Dean McMahon

Good Afternoon

My name is Dean McMahon and I am a Deputy Referral Manager for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding the letter you received recently, asking you to call to arrange an appointment with the physiotherapy service. Firstly I would like to offer my sincere apologies for the distress which has been caused to you as result of making contact with the department having received this letter, however I would like to explain the rationale behind our process.

A letter is sent to patients, asking them to telephone to arrange a mutually agreeable appointment with the service. This allows the patient to choose the most suitable date and time, and is extremely effective in reducing the number of subsequent cancellations which occur as a result of an unsuitable appointment being issued. The process is also very effective in identifying patients who no longer require an appointment, and therefore a response time limit is advised, after which patients would generally need a new referral from their GP.

I do however empathise fully with the concerns you have raised and would therefore like to offer my assurance that as a result these issues, we will actively take this up with the member of staff involved to ensure empathy and customer care is adhered to at all times.

I would be grateful if you could contact me directly by email at Dean.McMahon@ggc.scot.nhs.uk stating your full name, date of birth and CHI number in order that we can identify the staff member in question and ensure that additional training is put in place. This will also allow us to take forward your concerns and appointment request, to hopefully resolve the identified issues.

Once again, please accept my sincere apologies and also my assurance that excellent customer care is of paramount importance within the Health Records service and I am sorry that on this occasion, you have been dissatisfied.

Thanks & Regards

Dean McMahon

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