Due to the unprecedented levels of verbal abuse our Administration staff are receiving, we have made the difficult decision to stop the queuing for appointments in the mornings from Monday 6th January 2025. Before 10am, all appointments must be made via our phone line (01355 578 030). This will allow an additional 2 members of our Administration team to answer the phones and reduces the need for people to come and queue for an appointment at 08.30am for an appointment later in the day.
We would ask that if you are calling for another reason, such as results, prescriptions, that you phone after 10am. This will allow those who require an appointment to be prioritised for the first couple of hours in the day.
We have reviewed the survey results that were posted a couple of months ago, and we are listening to your feedback. We are reviewing the need for more pre-bookable appointments for our patients and hope to do this after the Winter. However, despite a mainly on-the-day service, there is still an unacceptable number of missed appointments, including appointments made that day. This is extremely frustrating for us as clinicians, however it also has a significant impact on other patients who have missed out on an appointment that day. If you cannot make an appointment, please contact the practice to cancel, so that appointment can be used by another patient.
As mentioned above, our staff are receiving an unacceptable amount of verbal abuse from patients. This will not be tolerated. All of our staff work exceptionally hard every single day to help deliver high quality patient care and we do not deserve to be abused by patients. Unacceptable conduct directed to any member of staff, clinical or administrative, will be taken very seriously and may lead to you being removed from our practice list or even being reported to the Police. We are working in difficult conditions at the moment due to the high levels of seasonal respiratory illness in our communities, but this is also affecting our staff and their families, so staffing levels may be affected. We would ask that you treat the staff with the kindness and courtesy that you would expect to receive.
Thank you for your understanding,
The Partners, Caldergreen Medical Practice