Timing of Telephone appointments

We are aware that there can be some confusion regarding the expected time of phone calls booked with a clinician. Accurx sends an automated message when a telephone appointment is booked, suggesting a 2 hour window. We do send a confirmation message to state that this will be within the ‘AM or PM’ window as surgeries last 4-5 hours. Surgeries are made up of face to face and telephone appointments and priority is given to urgent cases. Some consultations take longer than others due to complex medical problems, distressing situations or calls to and from hospitals.

We appreciate your patience when waiting for a telephone appointment. We will always try to call twice, 30 minutes apart, if you miss the first call. We have again contacted Accurx to ask if their messaging can more closely reflect the challenging clinical environment, to avoid confusion.

Respect for our staff

Modern general practice incorporates a number of allied clinical staff. All appointment requests are triaged by a doctor who will decide the appropriate person to deal with the problem. In an ideal world we would all have our favourite clinician available all day every day to see us, but in reality this is just not possible, nor is it necessary.

Our colleagues include Advanced Nurse Practitioners (Kayleigh and Rachael) who have a wide range of independent practice. The triaging doctor is aware of their scope of work and will make sure the presenting problem is appropriate. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for them to be faced with personal comments about their capabilities, undermining the years of higher level training they have completed.

In addition, we have a very hard working team of administrative staff. Our calls are recorded and it is difficult to hear them being sworn at, laughed at or threatened on occasions. Such behaviour will not be tolerated. Poor treatment leads to poor morale and loss of staff. Similarly, if a call does not meet our expected standard, then we reflect on this with the team member and put extra training in place.

Most of our patients are kind and courteous and we thank you for this. General practice is a tough environment and without the team, the doctors simply can’t provide the service.

Drs Marshall, Shaw, Jerram and Willey