Beversbrook Medical Centre 2022-08-09 Person 3 5 0

The process of offering telephone appointments within a 3 hour window, with no consultation or discussion is hugely assumptive that we have nothing better to do than sit next to our phones and wait for the call. I have a senior role and I am happy to juggle my diary to accomodate a 15-30 min window but 3 hours is just ridulous and disrepectful. Anyone in more junior roles may have even less control over their work and many could not afford to take a call at work for fear of dismissal. Then if you miss the call because you are busy, there is just a message left to say you need to call the surgery. This then results in a long wait for the phone to be answered, only then to be told the doctor has moved on to other patients. This system is inflexible, not patient focused and is likley to also disadvantage those with lower incomes, poor mental health and other inequalities. The staff themselves are great, when you can speak to them, but the barriers to accessing care are significant.

Doctorlink is also very restrictive and once when it said i needed to be seen same day, i was referred to a chemist by the surgery. This was for an eye issue and i decided to speak to NHS111, which was not an option suggested by the surgery and they referred me to the Opticians who wanted to see me same day. I had a signifiant ulcer on my eye that needed immediate treatment. I think if you are going to use a risk based algorythm like doctorlink, at the very least the urgercy identified should be followed to reduce risk.