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Diabolical

Story from nhs.uk

"Diabolical"

About: Hawthorn Medical Centre

This surgery and the systems they have in place are, quite frankly, not fit for purpose. Trying to get through on the phone is the first obstacle. My PB is 101 attempts. Obstacle two is speaking to the receptionists. Some are very reasonable, pleasant and helpful but some are absolutely obnoxious. Truly horrid. You are made to feel like a complete inconvenience to them because you dared to enquire into the possibility of getting an appointment. The way they ask what is wrong and then decide if you deserve an appointment or not makes me wonder why we need doctors at all!

The nurses and doctors themselves all seem perfectly pleasant, I have no complaints about them, but their dreadful receptionists and the ridiculous system they have in place really let them down. It should not be this difficult in 2019 to see a doctor, we are not a developing country!

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Responses

Response from Hawthorn Medical Centre 5 years ago
Hawthorn Medical Centre

Submitted on 21/02/2019 at 09:42
Published on nhs.uk at 10:05

I am sorry you have difficulty getting through on the phones, the Receptionists answer the calls as quickly as they can and we have four Receptionists answering the phones at a time.

They have to ask certain questions to ascertain which clinic to book the caller into if there is availability.

They most certainly do not give appointment to people who deserve them, I’m afraid it’s a first come first serve basis the way appointments are booked.

You can pre-book appointments on a Thursday and Friday for the following week, they are released at 8.30 am, apart from the last week of the month when appointments are only bookable on the day.

You also have the option to come and queue at the desk in the morning to try and get an appointment for that day.

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