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Terrible front desk service

Story from nhs.uk

"Terrible front desk service"

About: The Ridge Medical Pract.

On wed 10th of march 2021 at 16.30pm I contacted THE RIDGE MECICAL PRACTICE great Horton in Bradford. I spent 35 mins waiting for an answer on the phone line and when I spoke to the receptionist about opting out of a medication change (which was explained in a text message I received is my right) she became dismissive and she refused to let me opt out, when the text message I got said to opt out simply contact the surgery. She then became hysterical and said i was shouting at her, i was not.

Then i asked for her full name as i thought she was being rude and awkward with me and unhelpful like she was trying to get rid of me. she refused to give a name then hung up. She made a scene like I was the one who had said something wrong.

I did not shout or swear or raise my voice.

This is disgraceful service. i have been with this doctors surgery my whole life and they have always been ok, but the past few years the receptionists are on a power trip and treat patients very poorly.

This whole experience has left me shaken and very upset. and its bad enough dealing with my chronic health problems i also have to be treated this way by people I seek help from.

I suffer from chronic depression and anxiety and I find it difficult to speak on the phone this is compounded when I have to deal with rude people who refuse to help me when it is their job. It is such a pity because the Doctors are understanding and helpful and I have zero complaint about them, when i am luck enough to get an appointment.

I have spoke to friends and family members (some of whom have now left the surgery now) they all agree that they are not happy with the service on a regular basis. A simple google search reveals scores of complaints about the way they are treated by this team.

I rarely complain and I am sorry to have to bring this up but I was accused of shouting when I was treated badly myself refused help and left stunned after wasting nearly an hour.

I have reached out to various independent medical facility review websites and will be leaving a complaint as I feel I have to do something.

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Responses

Response from The Ridge Medical Pract. 3 years ago
The Ridge Medical Pract.

Submitted on 11/03/2021 at 07:50
Published on nhs.uk at 08:59

Hi

Thank you for providing us with feedback - I am very sorry that our care did not live up to your expectations on this occasion.

We are clearly unable to answer your individual concerns on a public forum as it concerns your own personal medical situation which is confidential to you. It is disappointing that you have chosen to use this forum to feedback to us when we are unable to resolve the situation via this route.

We have a well established complaints process where patients feel that we have not met their needs. This thorough process allows us not only to resolve an individuals own issue and address your concerns we also use this to review pour processes and procedures to try and make sure we get it right first time in the future.

However in general terms to respond to some of your feedback: Our reception staff are trained by us - in line with national guidance - to work very differently now. They are now "care navigators" making sure that our patients get the care they need promptly - and this involves them asking for some background to your issue not simply booking an appointment. We now have a large multidisciplinary team made up of GPs, Nurses, advanced nurse practioners, Physiotherapists, health care assistants, physicians associates, pharmacists, social prescribers and others and the recpionist role is to navigate you to the best place in the system to get the care you need.

I am sorry you felt our team member was not helpful to you when you called. Most of our team live locally in our community so our policy is for them to not provide their full name but they all identify themselves by their first name on answering the call. In the event of any issue then we can identify them anyway as we know who has been in a patients record at any time. This would enable us to provide further support and training that staff member if needed.

A receptionist is not able to change your medication - this would have to be done by someone who is a trained prescriber - most likely by one our pharmacy team with the support of a GP if required. They will have made changes as part of a regular review process that we do at least once a year and changes were probably in line with latest guidance and advice. If you were not happy with the changes I am surprised a further review was not offered.

If you are struggling to get through on the phone you are now able to rasie an e-consult from our website which will get clinically reviewed and a response to you with 48 hours including a call from the clinician if that is required.

Again I am sorry that we have failed to provide you with the care that you needed and again would urge you to contact us directly so that we can resolve matters for you and help us learn any lessons that can help us be better in the future.

Kind Regards

Nick Nurden

Business Manager

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