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Care Opinion

Booking for a physiotherapy appointment

Posted By Obron

"Booking for a physiotherapy appointment"

About: West Mendip Community Hospital

(as the patient),

Earlier this month (January 2019) I woke up with intense pain in my shoulder. I saw my GP later that day and he gave me a grade 1 urgent appointment with physiotherapy at my local hospital (West Mendip). To make the appointment I had to phone an office in Chard, Somerset. I couldn't get through and was told someone would ring me back. They didn't. I rang later, only to find that the office was closed. I tried ringing the next day and was told to hang up as there was no one to answer my call. I rang again, and was told someone would ring me back. I took no notice of this this time, and tried again a few times later in the day. I got through eventually. All that while I was feeling  sick with pain and quite helpless. I did get an appointment, for the following week, and can report that the care I am receiving from the physiotherapists at West Mendip is wonderful, can't fault it. But when the physiotherapist  told me that if I needed to contact her about anything I would have to do it through the Chard office, I decided to tell you this story, to see if anything can be done to improve the service there.

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Responses

Response from Emma Davey, Director of Patient Experience and Engagement, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 5 years ago
Emma Davey
Director of Patient Experience and Engagement,
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 01/02/2019 at 17:27
Published on Care Opinion on 04/02/2019 at 10:26

picture of Emma Davey

Hi there,

Firstly, I am really sorry to hear that you have been in such pain with your shoulder and that you when you needed us, you had such difficulty getting through - this isn't good enough and I am so sorry that this added to your distress and feelings of helplessness on those days.

We are really aware of the challenges trying to access our booking lines at present and to our disappointment, you are not the only person who has been having difficulties - as such, the service manager has been working hard to source additional support for the booking office team and has also asked for support from our IT colleagues with regards to the many reported concerns about the telephone queue system.

Things are getting better and I would hope that if you need to call the booking office again, you will have a different and better experience but if that isn't the case, please do let us know either through Care Opinion or via our Patient Advice and Liaison service on 01278 432022.

I am however, thrilled to hear you describe your experience with our Physiotherapy team as wonderful and that you have had great care - your experiences really do matter to us and we are grateful that you have taken the time to explain what hasn't worked well together with what has worked for you.

Hope you are on the road to recovery soon.

Thanks again,

Emma

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