"Trying to contact by telephone"

I am very sorry that you have had difficulty getting through today and that you were cut off. This would not have been deliberate on the part of reception, who have been inundated with calls at the moment. Unfortunately we sent out flu invitations to over 65s last week and have had a larger and quicker response than we anticipated; I had hoped that more people would use our 24 hour automated telephone booking system to book their flu vaccinations, however it appears that the majority of people want to speak to reception to book their appointments. We will obviously review this and change our procedure for next flu season. This increased demand coupled with unexpected staff absence has meant that the receptionists really are working at their limit at the moment. I hope you will appreciate that they are doing everything they can to help as quickly as they can. The receptionists are extremely hard working, conscientious and caring and are doing everything they can to help as many people as they can, as well as they can and as quickly as they can. I ask for your patience and understanding at this time. We are in the process of recruiting additional reception staff, all of whom will obviously will need some training, and hope that you will help us to allow them time to settle into the receptionist role, which can be very demanding and not always appreciated. If you wish to discuss further, give any additional feedback please do not hesitate to contact me. Miss Kiran Bakhshi, Practice Manager: kiran.bakhshi@nhs.net