"Gone down hill"

Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback.

We are sorry to learn of your dissatisfaction with the level of service received at this surgery.

Please note below the following improvements made to our appointment system and telephone system

Telephone System

In response to patient feedback, we have recently made changes to our telephone system to improve access to Living Well Partnership and to increase our capacity to answer incoming calls.

Telephone calls are all now answered from a central site in Southampton, which means that reception staff at the surgery will be able to provide an improved face to face service and that incoming calls will be answered more swiftly, by a dedicated team.

We did experience some technical problems when the phone system first changed in November, which meant that patients did experience long wait times, for which we apologise. These issues have now been resolved and moving forward, patients should notice a significant improvement as call waiting times are reduced and telephone access is quicker and easier. Further improvements to our telephone system are planned for next year and we are also in the process of recruiting more reception staff to answer the increased volume of calls we are experiencing, now that the capacity of our phone lines has increased.

Routine Appointments

We have also recognised the difficulties that patients have faced previously calling at 9.00am for a routine appointment and we have subsequently implemented changes to our booking system. To help ease the early morning call volumes when patients are phoning to access our same day service, our routine appointments are now released every weekday at 2.00pm and are bookable 14 days in advance. Unfortunately, if you do telephone at 2.00pm and there are no appointments available, you will be asked to call back the following day. The number of routine appointments released each day varies depending on the clinical resource available on that day in two weeks’ time, which we cannot always confirm more than two weeks in advance.

The way in which routine appointments are released is standard across all Living Well Partnership sites and within General Practice more widely. This change has been prompted, in part, by the significant volumes of failed appointments that we were experiencing , with patients booking appointments weeks in advance and then failing to attend.

Qdoctor and E-consult

In addition to the changes made to our telephone system, we have introduced online video consultations with GPs via Qdoctor and an e-consult service , which allows you to access your GP online at a time that is convenient for you and which will provide a response within 48 hours. More information about both services can be found on our website and e-consult can be accessed directly from our website. Whilst these services are not suitable for all conditions or symptoms, they are intended to provide greater choice and flexibility for patients and increased access to routine appointments. E-consult and Qdoctor are both effective systems for consulting with a GP regarding non urgent matters.

Urgent Care

For urgent matters, We operates a same day service every weekday between 8.00am - 10.30am and 2.00pm - 5.00pm. If patients have an urgent need, they are added to our triage list and will receive a call the same day, from one of our urgent care clinicians. This may not always be a GP. The clinician will then determine whether the patient needs to be seen and will advise of the most appropriate course of action.

Kind regards