By Patients at Scartho Medical Centre left furious by lack of appointments
Patients at Scartho Medical Centre are being left outraged after being left engaged on the phone since 8:30 this morning.
They are becoming more annoyed than ever after having the same problem the previous week, some patients don’t have the time to wait around on the phone as they have other problems to deal with.
One patient at the surgery said: “I tried calling yesterday from 8:30am and the phone was constantly engaged, when I eventually got through I was told I would have to call again today as there were no appointments left. Once calling again today I was told there was only one doctor and could I call again another day, after a long conversation they eventually gave me one.
“I even went into the surgery beforehand to try to get one and I was told there is no online booking and I would have to call tomorrow.”
The surgery stated that it is extremely busy as well as being short staffed meaning appointments are limited and phone calls may take longer.
The staff are only able to answer a certain amount of calls at any one time and the demand outweighs capacity, the demand is also increasing as people don’t self-care.
In a Facebook post sent out on Facebook by the surgery, it read: “Due to staff shortages we are extremely busy. Your phone call may take longer to answer and appointments are limited. If you do not need an appointment today we would suggest calling us tomorrow / later in the week. Thank you for your understanding.”
Surgeries such as Freshney Green and the Roxton Practice have an online booking system which makes it easier for patients to make appointments and gives the staff at the surgery one less concern.
Online booking at Scartho Medical Centre has also been engaged now for several days, but with more people using the site the system failed meaning no more online booking.
Once recovered from the backlog of phone calls the staff will be able to get back to every one promptly.
