"Gone downhill"

24 months ago I had nothing but praise for this practice, although sceptical about the "ring after 8.30" process I always got an appointment within 1-2 days. I always got the impression that I was an interruption to the receptions staff day but they were polite and the doctors came across as knowledgeable and professional. In September I tried to book an appointment for my son to see his GP, it took 2 days to get through to reception only to be told he would have to wait 3 weeks! In October I tried to book another appointment and this time I tried for 3 days to get through to reception. This week I have tried to contact the practice to get some information about my medication, I have telephoned the practice literally every 5 minutes from 8.30 - 6.30 for 2 days and every time the lines are engaged. On the second day, having been stuck in a traffic jam on my way home I rang 114 times between 4.30 & 6.30 guess what, engaged every time! It's not surprising that people resort to A&E in frustration. I work within a call centre and if we managed our inbound calls like this practice does we would be out of a job.