I was amazed yesterday that neither the pharmacist in one of my local pharmacists nor the paramedic who called me back on 111 knew that The Minor Injuries Unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone only takes walk-in patients for 'minor injuries' and has not been a 'Walk-in' centre for other conditions for more than 2 years. There is an out-of-hours GP unit there but 111 has to have rung them to make an appointment with a GP before the patient goes there.
I knew this but the pharmacist didn't and neither did the paramedic who called me back on 111.
They said I should just turn up there and when I said I knew I had to have an appointment made in advance they gave me a reference number which meant nothing to the staff at the RVH when I got there. One receptionist was eventually quite helpful in explaining the system to me and telling me what I should tell 111 to do to get me an appointment but the initial reaction there was to shrug their shoulders. It turned out I was the 2nd of 3 people to turn up there within a short time, sent by 111 & without an appointment, and so I can understand the frustration of the staff.
Come on NHS and get your act together & let your health professionals know how the system works,
"The lack of knowledge of what services are offered"
Posted via nhs.uk
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