Trying to get through to the doctor....

kingfisherblue

26 minutes on hold, and counting. I was position number three when I first rang, and average waiting time was three minutes. I finally moved up to position number 1 at 5.01pm, and average waiting time had changed to four minutes.

All I want to know is when a flu jab is to be booked for my disabled son - we haven't received a letter. I've looked on the surgery website (no email available) and the flu clinic was two weeks ago.

And in the time taken to type this, I have now been on hold for 28 minutes!

Lbuk

Book it asap by phoning your gp during open hours. That's what my diabetic husband does, he's already had his. There will be frequent clinics.

pinkshoes

Why not just call in?

piglet25

381 engaged tone attempts is my best - I even drove around there while constantly dialing ( bluetooth ) and kept dialing while I was in the queue and told the receptionist that I had tried 381 time to get through and would like my son to see a doctor before I left the building. Apologies? nope. Oddly though I never heard their phone ring while I was in there - make what you will of that!

gettingtheresometime

Can you book an appt online? We have this facility at our surgery and there seems to be more apps available that way

iammumtoone

50 minutes is my record. by the time I got to speak to someone I knew it was too late for an appointment

You can tell as the when you first ring it takes a little while to move up in the queue as people are booking appointments, then once you start moving up the queue quicker you know they have all gone as the receptionist just answers "sorry no appointments today try tomorrow" and that's it end of phone call.

Lines open at 8 I once rang at 7.59 and got the recorded message line closed so re-dallied straight away, expecting to be one of the first high up in the queue, I was number 35 :eek:

OP if you just want to ask a question I find it is better to ring mid morning/early afternoon when people aren't one the line awaiting for appointment slots.

lincroft1710

With our online appt system you can wait 2 weeks to see doctor of your choice!

tiredmum2

Call NHS England and make complaint they will then follow up and you will usually get a callback with an appointment for that day or the next
How to contact us

Members of the public, patients, and their representatives should contact our Customer Contact Centre.

You can contact us by:

Telephone: 0300 311 22 33
Email: england.contactus@nhs.net
Post: NHS England, PO Box 16738, Redditch, B97 9PT
British Sign Language (BSL): If you use BSL, you can to talk to us via a video call to a BSL interpreter. Visit NHS England’s BSL Service.

Our opening hours are: 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, except Wednesdays when we open at the later time of 9.30am.

Person_one

I find that if I ring after 10am (so after all the people wanting same day appointments) and before 3pm (so before everybody ringing for test results or parents of school kids or people finishing work) then I get through straightaway.

kingfisherblue

Lbuk wrote: »

Book it asap by phoning your gp during open hours. That's what my diabetic husband does, he's already had his. There will be frequent clinics.

I did phone during opening hours. I rang at 4.46pm, and they are open until 6pm most nights. Thursday is there late night (I think they close at 7pm).

Pinkshoes - it's a fifteen minute drive without traffic. Not too bad, but dreadful parking, They have a small car park but the building houses four surgeries, speech therapy unit, eye clinic, wheelchar assessment unit, cardio gym, andnumerous other clinics as well as a chemist. It's residential permit parking in the surrounding area. I wish that they had never moved from their old building, but it was in the name of progress.

Gettingtheresometime - no online services at all. Appointments are for the same day if you're lucky enough to get one, although you can usually attend a 'sit and wait' at the end of surgery. The early appointments before 9am are pre-bookable, but usually booked up three weeks in advance.

Unfortunately, no matter what time of day you ring, you don't get through quickly. Tonight I gave up after forty minutes. I wanted to eat my tea before Guides.

I've seriously considered moving to a different surgery, but (when you can get through!) they are very good with my son, who is disabled. As appointments are for the same day, I know that he can be seen quickly when he is ill. I've never been on hold for so long, even first thing in the morning. I'm wondering if there is a fault on the system - I'm sure that the phone lines are not that busy! If only there was an email address to ask if the phone lines are in full working order, or whether they were really so busy they couldn't answer for more than forty minutes.

pogofish

kingfisherblue wrote: »

26 minutes on hold, and counting. I was position number three when I first rang, and average waiting time was three minutes. I finally moved up to position number 1 at 5.01pm, and average waiting time had changed to four minutes.

All I want to know is when a flu jab is to be booked for my disabled son - we haven't received a letter. I've looked on the surgery website (no email available) and the flu clinic was two weeks ago.

And in the time taken to type this, I have now been on hold for 28 minutes!

Surely you just ask them when you see them?

I can't think of any normal family/relationship where one member has to communicate via a phone queue with another...?