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Difficult to contact, broken web systems

Story from nhs.uk

"Difficult to contact, broken web systems"

About: Bideford Medical Centre

My experience in January of this year was: On attempting to use the centre website in January, it provides conflicting information. Digital contact is impossible outside of opening hours, at least in January. This means I cannot contact the surgery as they are, to me, always closed. Notes/messages cannot be left outside opening hours. This means other people like myself cannot access healthcare. Mgmt are very keen to hear about experiences like mine (in writing!), before subsequently do nothing about the problems raised. Bideford medical centre is an anti-medical centre. They can improve, but my recent experience suggests they choose not to (which I find disappointing).

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Responses

Response from Bideford Medical Centre 3 months ago
Bideford Medical Centre

Submitted on 20/02/2025 at 11:30
Published on nhs.uk at 11:31

Dear Patient,

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We are sorry to hear about your experience and appreciate the opportunity to clarify our contact options.

Our online system is available Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:30pm, our telephone lines are open from 8:30am to 6pm, and our surgery doors are open from 8am to 6pm. Please note that we are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. If you are unable to reach us during these hours—whether online, by phone, or in person—we strongly recommend contacting NHS 111 for medical advice.

We understand that extended access to our online service may seem beneficial, but it would not be clinically safe to keep it open outside of core hours, as no staff would be available to review incoming requests. For any urgent medical concerns outside our opening times, NHS 111 is the appropriate service to contact. If your query is administrative and you are unable to reach us during our opening hours, we encourage you to submit your request in writing or via email.

We welcome all feedback as it helps us improve our services. While written feedback allows us to address concerns more thoroughly, our management team is also happy to discuss any issues over the phone if needed.

If you would like to discuss your experience further, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards.

Zoe Smale

Operations Manager

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