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Very poor response when trying to book appointment

Story from nhs.uk

"Very poor response when trying to book appointment"

About: Thurleigh Road Practice

I have no complaints with the Doctors. They have looked after me very well.

It's just booking an appointment.

I was on the phone for 35minutes before I got through. I rang at 8:10. I tried yesterday as well, with no luck

The first words the receptionist said on both days was "we have no appointments available". No sense or hint of an apology.

Today I was offered Clapham Junction. I was told "from 10:30". I had to ask if there was a "between" or could it be from 10:30 to midnight today? I've been offered 10:30 to 12 noon.

Yesterday once I was told there were no appointments available. I was not offered anything more! The conversation stopped there! I had to ask if I could book for a later day. Only when I pushed for it I was offered a time in 2 weeks. Which on many occasions would have been fine.

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Responses

Response from Thurleigh Road Practice 2 years ago
Thurleigh Road Practice

Submitted on 06/07/2021 at 12:26
Published on nhs.uk at 21:12

Dear Patient,

Thank you for leaving feedback. We are sorry that you are unhappy with the service you have received and would like to reassure you that we take all complaints seriously.

At present, the whole of the NHS is under pressure and having to work differently. It is very difficult to offer same standard of services that we ran before the pandemic, and the situation still has not returned to normal. However, we offer as many telephone triage appointments as we are able. On some occasions, our clinicians are unwell and we may have to reduce triage calls, as it is difficult to arrange a GP locum at the last minute.

I appreciate that you had to call the practice twice and on both occasions you were unsuccessful in arranging an appointment. However, our Reception staff did offer you an outside area doctor, which is an additional NHS service, provided to patients needing to see a GP urgently.

Can I also suggest that you use an Online Access service, where you can book appointments via an App. Telephone triage appointments are available to book from 7.30am each day on the app, and any cancelled appointments are made available on the app during the day.

As you have left this comment anonymously, I am unable to check your status under online access. Please contact us or visit our website for further information to obtain access.

Kind regards,

Shushma Leidig

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