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Phone system issues

Posted By Height132

"Phone system issues"

About: Crosshouse Hospital / Podiatry

(as the patient),

I’m trying to get in touch with the foot screening service but I am unable to because of the phone system. I received a letter that asked me to phone a number between 9-12pm to make an appointment. I have tried to phone for a week but can’t get through. When you get to a certain point it clicks and cuts out, it just seems permanently engaged. Is it because they are over run? There’s no information give about what to do when this happens and there isn’t an alternative contact. After 12pm there is an automated message. It is totally inaccessible and I feel like this is deliberate. I called the switchboard last week and they put me through to the referral service which is how I got my appointment but I need to change it and I just can’t get through to anyone. Why have a phone number if no one is available to answer the phone? It just seems automatically engaged and I don’t know who else I am supposed to contact.

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Responses

Response from NHS Ayrshire and Arran 7 years ago
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

Submitted on 01/03/2017 at 14:26
Published on Care Opinion at 15:51

Dear Height132,

I am sorry that you had problems accessing the Podiatry Diabetic screening Hub telephone line and I would like to apologize for the inconvenience cause. I would like to explain the current situation and reassure you that we are taking this very seriously, and we have been working to resolve these issues as soon as possible.

The podiatry Diabetic foot screening hub is a standalone service and is not supported by the general AHP appointment administrative team, therefore our administration support for this service is restricted to a certain extent. We have scheduled to answer telephone enquiries Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 9 am and 12 o’clock so patients can speak directly to the screening coordinator. The coordinator makes the appointments and deals with any enquiries you may have at that time.

After 12 o’clock, the answer phone is switched on and messages can be left and are dealt with on a daily basis. This allows the coordinator to spend the rest of the day appointing patients who are due / or have requested an alternative appointment for annual diabetic foot checks in to screening clinics across Ayrshire. This time is also uses to return a call if this is necessary. As the clinic phone number is an 0800 number, our calls are sometimes not successful and then contact has to be made by letter.

A new telephone system and appointment system was installed recently and there have been some teething problems. Like you, some people have been unable to get through or leave a message. At times, there has also been a high volume of calls to the service, which we are currently monitoring to see how to adapt, based on the resources we have.

I hope this information I have provided has been useful. However if you would like to discuss any of the issue you have raised further, I am happy to speak with you directly. Should you wish to do so, please call me on this mobile number below.

Kind regards,

Mgt

Margaret Doyle

Podiatry Service Manager

Mob 07770542520

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