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Unhelpful and rude reception staff - no empathy

Story from nhs.uk

"Unhelpful and rude reception staff - no empathy"

About: Castle Partnership

I can’t comment on the quality of the gp/nursing care but have heard good feedback on the practice. However, I tried to book an appt last week and was told there were none for one month. Told to call back 8am Monday. Called 20 times between 8 and 820 today, finally got through and told no appts and to try again tomorrow. I understand that this is the situation with many gps but I felt that the receptionist was judgemental and very rude. As a doctor myself, I feel that this approach to patients (who are often under stress when calling) is completely unacceptable and I felt quite demeaned and upset after the call.

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Responses

Response from Castle Partnership 5 years ago
Castle Partnership

Submitted on 23/08/2018 at 16:48
Published on nhs.uk at 18:07

Thank you for your comment and we are sorry that you are experiencing difficulties with our appointment system, we want to provide a service to patients.

Thank you for highlighting these issues to us. We are very concerned by the fact that you feel the member of staff upset you and that the service you have received by the reception team has been unacceptable.

The staff are given regular training on telephone and customer service skills, as it is very important to the Practice that our patients are treated with respect and compassion. It is also essential to ensure they understand the importance of explaining why it is not possible to meet a patients request when offering alternatives to ensure clarity of the situation. This should always be delivered in a caring and compassionate way by all members of the team.

We always take complaints very seriously in order to try and improve on the service and care we provide to our patients. I can assure you that the issues you have raised will be discussed at our next Clinical Governance meeting in order for the whole team to understand what has gone wrong, learn from it and ensure that the service we provide our patients is of a high standard. We are always looking at ways we can improve our appointment system and telephone service and appreciate your time raising these issues to us.

We hope that your future experiences at Mile End Road Surgery are pleasant ones and that we can resolve this situation satisfactorily.

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