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Phone line constantly engaged

Story from nhs.uk

"Phone line constantly engaged"

About: Beacon Health Group

Having been advised to phone Monday 20th July to get an appointment to speak to the doctor who authorised a blood test, I tried for 40 minutes to contact the surgery. All I got was the engaged tone except for three occasions when the call seemed to connect only to be cut off after one ring. This seemed as if someone lifted the receiver and put it down again deliberately to cut off the call. I tried the phone line several times during the day but, again just got the engaged tone. On 20th July I had several phone calls in and out on my landline so I deduce that my telephone is not faulty. I tried the surgery number late in the day, as an experiment, and was immediately connected to a recorded message. This shows that the telephone number is working.

I have been unwell for the last several weeks but in the present virus situation and out of consideration for the overworked NHS, had kept attempted contact with the surgery to a minimum.

At last, a couple of weeks ago, I was able to have a telephone conversation GP who was very helpful and organised a blood test. This GP told me at the time that the results may need to be followed up.

When I enquired about my test results on Friday 17th July, I was told that a follow up was required, as previously advised by the GP, and that I should phone on the morning of Monday 20th July to book an appointment.

This was hopeless due to the phone line being constantly engaged, as previously described.

On three occasions in the last four years (well before coronavirus) I have had to resort to paying for a consultation with a private doctor after being told that either GP's were too busy to see me, I could have an appointment two or three weeks in the future, or just being fobbed off with the excuse that no appointments were available. It is hardly surprising that I have little or no faith in the NHS.

I am 75 years old, have been unwell for some weeks and now cannot access help from a medical professional due to the seeming inability of the surgery to have a working phone line.

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Responses

Response from Beacon Health Group 3 years ago
Beacon Health Group

Submitted on 14/08/2020 at 15:56
Published on nhs.uk at 19:56

Dear Ms Cole

Because of the increase in telephone usage due to covid and the need to conduct most of our consultations over the phone , the patients sometime experience difficulties getting through. We have 10 places ques on our system but once all the lines are in use the patients get engaged signal. We are aware of the issue and have requested six more telephone lines that should be connected within days.

We also encourage patients to ring at less busy times. You are guaranteed consultation on the phone with a clinician (and f2f is it’s appropriate) if you ring the practice between 8 am – 12 noon. Most of the days even when a patient rings later they will get a phone call the same day.

There are also email addresses available on our website and a lot of patients request appointments this way. We always ring back the same day. Another alternative is drlink on our website where, following a symptom checking algorithm, patients can book appointments directly.

Regards

Renata Dermit

Business Director

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