Need help in writing letter of complaint about GP surgery.

xxJudexx

Hi

I am writing this while still stressed but I want someone out of the situation to help organise my complaint. I normally say I'll write letters of complaint but then get too lazy, not this time!

Our doctors is only open three mornings a week, they have a sister surgery about five miles away but obviously is hard to get to.

They have implemented a new appointment system whereby you ring up and they then get a doctor to ring back to decide if you need an appointment and only then is an appointment is made.

My brother needed an appointment so I ring up this morning and am told the doctor will ring. After forty minutes with no phone call I ring back and just ask for a time frame and explain that I need to know when the doctor may ring due to having to also make an emergency dialysis appointment for my mum.
The receptionist then says the doctor doesn't arrive until 9 o'clock and they may ring any time between nine and one! The surgery closes at one so I guess they just assume people have transport to get to the other surgery.
The receptionist indicated that we should decide whose need is greatest, she is in no way qualified to tell me that! She has no idea if my brother is on deaths door or not!
So I am now still waiting by the phone for a doctor to ring and I don't even know if they will deem my brother in need of an appointment at all!

I must confess I did get angry on the phone which I regret but the receptionist didn't seem interested in anything I was saying and seemed to have her back up as soon as she answered the phone, I guess they must get a lot of people complaining about the new system.

I want to complain. This system is ridiculous and the receptionist was very rude.

I have written a draft letter but am aware that I shouldn't be too emotive, I still need the facts though. Can you review my letter and advise how to improve it please. I have taken out place names.

To the Practice Manager

I am writing to complain about the new booking system recently put into place and advice given by staff that are not medically trained.


I phoned up at 8 o’clock this morning (3 February 2014) to book an appointment for my fourteen year old brother to be told a doctor will ring back shortly to assess the situation. This is absolutely fine and understandable when the surgery is only open for three mornings a week.


After waiting forty minutes with no phone call I ring back to ask for a time frame the doctor may ring back on as I have to also organise an emergency dialysis appointment and potential emergency surgery for my mother in xxxx, we all lead lives which cannot be put on hold indefinitely for one phone call, only to be told the doctor doesn’t even come into the surgery until 9 o’clock. So I have been waiting by the phone for forty minutes for no reason.



The receptionist then tells me the doctor will phone any time between nine o’clock and one o’clock, the surgery is only open until one o’clock anyway so this would be utterly useless in making an appointment.


The school needs to be informed if my brother will be attending the afternoon session but this cannot be achieved if we have no indication of when a doctor will ring let alone what time an appointment may be made for.


The receptionist indicated that I should choose to either wait until potentially one o’clock to make an appointment for my brother or continue organising an appointment for my mother. Two people need medical attention, a receptionist is not qualified to decide if my brother is well enough for an appointment to be abandoned.


If I was initially told at 8 o’clock that I would have to wait up to five hours for a doctor to ring back I would have provided a mobile number to be contacted on.

vuvuzela

I appreciate you're stressed, but "She has no idea if my brother is on deaths door or not!"

If he was, then you would take him to A&E. Not wait around for a doctor to call back.

xxJudexx

vuvuzela wrote: »

I appreciate you're stressed, but "She has no idea if my brother is on deaths door or not!"

If he was, then you would take him to A&E. Not wait around for a doctor to call back.

I do agree with you, I just needed to get it all on paper while it was fresh. This is by no means a final draft. But also I am not medically trained either so I need a doctor to asses. My brother has already had two surgeries related to the issue so we can't take any chances.

bsms1147

Sounds like a letter full of emotive language. Put it to one side, see how the day goes, and then if you choose to take this further, do so tomorrow or the next day, only stating the facts.

For all you know the Dr could be dealing with a collapsed patient in the surgery, so hold your horses. If it is an emergency, go to A&E, but if you are still debating whether to let your brother go to school this afternoon or not then I would assume it we're not in the emergency category just yet.

wiogs

xxJudexx wrote: »

Hi

I am writing this while still stressed but I want someone out of the situation to help organise my complaint. I normally say I'll write letters of complaint but then get too lazy, not this time!

Our doctors is only open three mornings a week, they have a sister surgery about five miles away but obviously is hard to get to.

They have implemented a new appointment system whereby you ring up and they then get a doctor to ring back to decide if you need an appointment and only then is an appointment is made.

My brother needed an appointment so I ring up this morning and am told the doctor will ring. After forty minutes with no phone call I ring back and just ask for a time frame and explain that I need to know when the doctor may ring due to having to also make an emergency dialysis appointment for my mum.
The receptionist then says the doctor doesn't arrive until 9 o'clock and they may ring any time between nine and one! The surgery closes at one so I guess they just assume people have transport to get to the other surgery.
The receptionist indicated that we should decide whose need is greatest, she is in no way qualified to tell me that! She has no idea if my brother is on deaths door or not!
She is perfectly qualified to ask you to make a decision
So I am now still waiting by the phone for a doctor to ring and I don't even know if they will deem my brother in need of an appointment at all!

I must confess I did get angry on the phone which I regret but the receptionist didn't seem interested in anything I was saying and seemed to have her back up as soon as she answered the phone, I guess they must get a lot of people complaining about the new system.

I want to complain. This system is ridiculous and the receptionist was very rude.

I have written a draft letter but am aware that I shouldn't be too emotive, I still need the facts though. Can you review my letter and advise how to improve it please. I have taken out place names.

To the Practice Manager

I am writing to complain about the new booking system recently put into place and advice given by staff that are not medically trained.


I phoned up at 8 o’clock this morning (3 February 2014) to book an appointment for my fourteen year old brother to be told a doctor will ring back shortly to assess the situation.
Did the receptionist say "shortly" you didn't mention that initially? [STRIKE]This is absolutely fine and understandable when the surgery is only open for three mornings a week.[/STRIKE] I would drop this


After waiting forty minutes with no phone call I [STRIKE]ring[/STRIKE] rang back to ask for a time frame the doctor may ring back on as I have to also organise an emergency dialysis appointment and potential emergency surgery for my mother in xxxx, (Full stop)
[STRIKE]we all lead lives which cannot be put on hold indefinitely for one phone call, only to be told the doctor doesn’t even come into the surgery until 9 o’clock. So I have been waiting by the phone for forty minutes for no reason. [/STRIKE]
I was not told that the call back to me would not happen until after 9 am at the earliest.



The receptionist [STRIKE]then tells[/STRIKE] told me the doctor [STRIKE]will [/STRIKE]would phone any time between nine o’clock and one o’clock. As the surgery is only open until one o’clock [STRIKE]anyway so this would be utterly useless in making an appointment. [/STRIKE] if I needed an appointment for brother then this would have then had to be made for another day.


The school needs to be informed if my brother will be attending the afternoon session but this cannot be achieved if we have no indication of when a doctor will ring let alone what time an appointment may be made for.


The receptionist indicated that I should choose to either wait until potentially one o’clock to make an appointment for my brother or continue organising an appointment for my mother. Two people need medical attention, a receptionist is not qualified to decide if my brother is well enough for an appointment to be abandoned.


If I was initially told at 8 o’clock that I would have to wait up to five hours for a doctor to ring back I would have provided a mobile number to be contacted on.

And.....

How do you wish this complaint resolved?

If the policy is that you will receive a call within a specific time frame then you need to get the receptionist to make sure all callers are aware of that.

What is/was the outcome with your brother?

His condition was not that serious that an appointment was urgent I take it? I often end up phoning my doctor to discuss things and don't get an appointment just some advice. Other times I do get an appointment.

xxJudexx

bsms1147 wrote: »

Sounds like a letter full of emotive language. Put it to one side, see how the day goes, and then if you choose to take this further, do so tomorrow or the next day, only stating the facts.

For all you know the Dr could be dealing with a collapsed patient in the surgery, so hold your horses. If it is an emergency, go to A&E, but if you are still debating whether to let your brother go to school this afternoon or not then I would assume it we're not in the emergency category just yet.

Like I said at the beginning I do understand it is emotive and I will be changing it.

My brother has problems with his hearing and the more ear infections he gets the worse his hearing gets. His ear drums have perforated numerous times which is incredibly painful and something we really want to avoid, the more times they perforate the more scar tissue is formed and the more hearing loss he gets.

He could go to school as his pain threshold is quite high, all he'd need is some antibiotics to get rid of the infection before it gets too bad.

I didn't include all that in the letter because I didn't think it was neccessary.

I do appreciate everyone's input, thank you.

Bantex_2

Give a mobile number and you are not tied down and they can call you at any time.

SevenOfNine

Bantex wrote: »

Give a mobile number and you are not tied down and they can call you at any time.

Yes, then you can discuss medical, confidential issues in the middle of Tesco!

TBH this has/is happening in LOTS of surgeries across the country. My mother's has it, ours tried it but then withdrew it (probably got loads of complaints).

When ours had it I was working full time, we were not allowed to have mobiles at the desk but were allowed personal calls through the office line. Therefore in order to get an appointment I had to remain at my desk waiting for the GP to call, then had to discuss personal information in front of work colleagues. Thank goodness they dispensed with that rubbish system rapidly.

Please use 1 line your letter to apologise for losing your temper and being rude to the receptionist (that's only fair), remember, she didn't CHOOSE this scheme but is shoved into the front line for implementing it.

Have a look at the surgery and/or sister surgery on-line, ours has some weird group of patient 'monitors' attached to it, so problems can be addressed via them. Will try to find out more about that, I don't think it's just our surgery.

janiebquick

It's good that you have written it all down while it was fresh.

Now what you need to do is to write explaining in a calm way why you found the situation unacceptable and asking them how they can help you being put in such a stressful situation again.

likelyfran

SevenOfNine wrote: »

Yes, then you can discuss medical, confidential issues in the middle of Tesco!

TBH this has/is happening in LOTS of surgeries across the country. My mother's has it, ours tried it but then withdrew it (probably got loads of complaints).

When ours had it I was working full time, we were not allowed to have mobiles at the desk but were allowed personal calls through the office line. Therefore in order to get an appointment I had to remain at my desk waiting for the GP to call, then had to discuss personal information in front of work colleagues. Thank goodness they dispensed with that rubbish system rapidly.

Please use 1 line your letter to apologise for losing your temper and being rude to the receptionist (that's only fair), remember, she didn't CHOOSE this scheme but is shoved into the front line for implementing it.

Have a look at the surgery and/or sister surgery on-line, ours has some weird group of patient 'monitors' attached to it, so problems can be addressed via them. Will try to find out more about that, I don't think it's just our surgery.

Personally, I would advise NOT to do that.
If the receptionist was rude from the off - which it sounds like she was and as is sadly quite typical of doctor's receptionists, then that was entirely inappropriate behaviour on the part of the receptionist. Similarly, as is sadly not uncommon, doctor's receptionists should NOT be straying beyond the boundaries of their jobs and into judgements or medical advice. Being 'shoved into the front line' is no excuse for being rude or unsympathetic to patients or their relatives.
Constructively speaking, OP please feel free to contact me by PM for letter help/redrafting!

xxJudexx

Thanks guys.

I have calmed down and will be writing a less emotive letter which I will personally deliver in the morning.

To be honest if they say they are keeping this appointment system I will move GPs, we have had countless problems in the past. The only reason we have stayed with them is they are a 2 minute walk away!