"Request for a phone consultation, a follow up."

Thank you for your comments.

I apologise that you were not able to speak to the doctor at this time. We are always happy to give telephone advice but we try to do this at particular times, as we also have other work to complete.

We generally take telephone calls between 12 noon and 1 pm. After 1pm, we are usually completing paperwork such as writing referrals, signing prescriptions or checking results and correspondence, or we are out of the surgery doing home visits. In order to complete this essential work, we do have to apply a fairly strict cut off at 1pm for phone calls. In addition, we run doctor led triage every morning, where patients can phone in if they feel they might need an appointment that day. In the afternoon, we have more limited emergency appointment capacity, so we do encourage patients to call in the morning if possible.

In the circumstances you describe, it would have been more appropriate for the receptionist to take your details and we would then have tried to phone you back at some stage during the afternoon. It would be unlikely that we would have been available to take the call at 1.30 pm, except in an emergency.

In addition, patients can call 111 for advice at any time, and GP appointments are available at the GP hub at Purley hospital throughout the day.

We do welcome comments on NHS choices, but for problems such as this, it may be more appropriate to contact the practice directly to complain, and then we can investigate your complaint in more detail. We always discuss complaints and comments at our regular team meetings, so we can ensure that we learn from them and try to continually improve our service. If you would like me to look into this further, please do not hesitate to contact me. I hope your husband is now fully recovered.