"Ask First app makes it impossible to get an…"

I understand "full triage" allows the surgery to prioritise people properly, but the insistence on everything going through the "Ask First" app is unacceptable. The staff have clearly been trained to deny anything is wrong while insisting that any issues with the app are in fact the fault of the patient.

It is a very shoddy piece of third-party software. I do not consent to having my private information going through "an empathy-driven conversational platform"! If we must have such a thing, it ought to be an NHS-run service following Government Digital Service standards.

I was eventually told by the receptionist that I have to choose "urgent issue", then "ongoing issue", then "other", to be able to get past the decision tree that would otherwise insist on me listing symptoms and then tell me to call 111. This is like a secret cheat code where I have to lie to get past the barrier.

I can only imagine what it is like for someone not technologically literate. They presumably just give up and never make an appointment, until it is an emergency. This might make the surgery stats look good but the patient outcomes are awful.

I'm sure that the GP and nurse services are perfectly fine, if we could get to them.