A faulty telephone system and a 20 per cent increase in demand for treatment has led to some patients waiting more than two weeks for appointments at Whiteley Surgery.
The problems have emerged since the surgery in Yew Tree Drive merged with its former sister practice at Locks Road in Locks Heath, which closed at the end of March.
Whiteley Surgery
Doctors have apologised for the problems and said they are working on correcting the issues.
When Clive Wilson, from Locks Heath, needed to see a GP after suffering a knee ailment, he had to try seven times before he finally go through to the surgery and was then told it would be nine days before he could see a doctor.
A few days later his condition worsened, so he went to the surgery for an emergency appointment and was seen that day. But he said that while he was there he heard about other patients waiting longer than him for appointments.
The 56-year-old said: “I overheard an elderly lady in the surgery ask for an appointment and she was told it would be two weeks and two days to see an unnamed doctor – that is not a specific doctor but any one for her to see.
“Nine days is a bit extreme. Two weeks and two days is just crazy. I think too much pressure has been put on the Whiteley Surgery. They don’t seem to have the doctors.
“I think there is a lot of discontent from the patients. It’s just not working. You’re waiting too long to have an appointment with an unnamed doctor. Unless it’s an emergency and they’ve got room, somehow you’re waiting about nine days or more. That’s unacceptable.
“They’re brilliant doctors, but the situation is not good. I don’t think at the moment they’re coping too well.
“If you need treatment, you need it there and then or in a couple of days.”
Doctor Richard Roope, senior partner at the Whiteley Surgery, said technical issues with a new telephone system had meant patients had to wait longer to speak to a receptionist to make an appointment.
He said: “We regret that the telephone system has caused some of the issues that is has. We’re doing everything we can to get that resolved, but it is beyond our control and is being dealt with by the manufacturing company.
“We’ve received no formal complains at all about people waiting.
“As part of our demand management, anyone who says they need to be seen today will be seen that day.
“We try to accommodate the needs of our patients. We have a contract to provide primary health care services in an appropriate and professional manner.”
Dr Roope added that after the closure of Locks Road and the merger of the two sister surgeries onto the Whiteley site there had been a 20 per cent increase in demand despite a a reduction of 800 patients.
Figures showed that across the two practices 21,017 appointments were made between January 1 and May 17 in 2012 – which this year during the same time period soared to 25,100. Across the two practices, there were 13,700 patients last year and this year 12,900 patients attend the Whiteley surgery.
“We’ve had a 19.4 per cent increase in appointments that have taken place and that’s with 800 fewer patients,” added Dr Roope.
“This is a story across the land and not specific to Hampshire. The demands on primary care are going up.
“I wouldn’t say that patients are any more ill a year on from what they were a year ago. Certainly if you look at the numbers we had to admit to hospital there has been no increase.
“We’ve got the same number of doctors and more nurses than we had a year ago across the two practices.
“We try our best to deliver as reactive a service as possible. One of the things that would make access easier is if people who can’t make their appointment would cancel it, which could mean other people could be seen sooner.”
In three months from February 21 to May 20 this year, 671 people did not show up for appointments with both nurses and doctors out of 17,347 in total. That was equal to one in 25 people who did not show for an appointment.
He said the practice would be investing in a patient computer log in system which could be in place by March 2014 to free up time for receptionists to take phone calls .
Dr Roope said the partners were also considering an online appointment booking system alongside booking by phone or at the surgery in person.