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AIBU?

Doctor call back

18 replies

Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 12:14

I called my gp surgery this morning for a call back (they do telephone triage), I know what my problem is but I need medication to treat it. I received a call back, as I picked it up the Dr hung up. I called straight back within 10 seconds and the receptionist said I'd lost my place and could no longer speak to the Dr until the afternoon. At the same time the Dr was leaving me a voice mail. Had she just put my call through I could have spoken to the GP.

AIBU? Whilst I can understand people calling back 15 mins or more later. But we both picked up/ hung up at the same time. Surely it's more efficient to put a call through in this case. This is also a problem for elderly people too who could hurt themselves rushing to the phone knowing that if they miss the call they won't get another chance (afternoon surgery) to speak to the Dr.

OP posts:

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Unexpected · 08/12/2014 12:23

Well she couldn't put the call through if the doctor's line was engaged leaving you a voicemail could she? And presumably she couldn't know from her desk if the doctor was talking to you or had moved to the next patient? It would have been better for you to wait a minute before calling as something obviously happened at the doctor's end to cause him/her to hang up and then they just called again. Anyway, the doctor is going to call back this afternoon so I really don't se this as an issue.

MillionToOneChances · 08/12/2014 12:28

If a call is disconnected you wait for the person who initiated it to reconnect. It's a simple and helpful rule between individuals, but all the more important important if you'd be phoning a switchboard!

Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 12:54

Unexpected I received the voicemail whilst on the phone with the receptionist and I told her this, therefore the Dr would not be engaged calling me.

Million, she hung up,
the phone wasn't disconnected.

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JamaicanMeEatMincePies · 08/12/2014 13:32

How can she leave you a voicemail if she hung up?

MillionToOneChances · 08/12/2014 13:38

But as unexpected said, something had happened to make her hang up. You should have given her at least 5-10 minutes to phone back before phoning the surgery, unless you were calling from a different phone line, ie phoning from your mobile when the GP uses your home number.

Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 13:42

Million, that's what my issue is they don't call back!

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SockDrawer · 08/12/2014 13:43

The whole system's stupid. I just don't get the point in the triage calls; a Dr spends time on the phone assessing a patient and then also has to spend time seeing the same patient at a face to face appointment. Its such a waste of time when you know you'll have something that means you'll need to be seen.

MillionToOneChances · 08/12/2014 13:45

They obviously did phone back as they went to your voicemail while you were arguing with the receptionist!

RichTeas · 08/12/2014 13:47

It makes senses Sock because not everyone does know whether their issue is serious or not. The idea is to filter out those that do not need to physically come in, and save everyone some time. A phone call can be dealt with in a few minutes, a face to to face is probably going to be double or triple amount the time for the same issue.

JamaicanMeEatMincePies · 08/12/2014 13:48

They can't leave you a voicemail if they hang up, do either it rang out because you didn't get to it in time or they rang back when you were on the phone.

Lonecatwithkitten · 08/12/2014 13:50

I have had prescriptions put up on the basis of a triage phone call so they can prevent the need for a face to face appointment.

Faultysingledad · 08/12/2014 13:53

What I should imagine happened is the call went to your voicemail just before you went to answer. This could be a signal issue. Dr's receptionists are notorious for having to protect Dr's time; they have to be or they'd gey horribly behind very quickly. Unfortunate situation, but you've been unlucky. Can't start making exceptions to simple rules or the decision making process would waste mor time than the rule saves, if you see what I mean. Never mind, it's afternoon now and I'm sure you've spoken to the doctor now.

Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 13:57

Sock drawer I partially agree, today I know what the issue is so I prefer the triage as I can collect the prescription direct from the pharmacy. However I previously had an issue which required 3 appointments instead of 1, because I wasn't diagnosed correctly.

The surgery is usually good but there is definitely a flaw in the system. People with limited mobility may require slightly longer to get to the phone, penalising them for this seems very unfair to me.

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aermingers · 08/12/2014 14:02

The doctor would have moved onto calling the next patient and would have been engaged. My doctors calls back again at the end of the telephone session, rather than waiting until the afternoon which I think is better.

It would have been nice if the receptionist had agreed to ask the doctor to call you back when he had finished his other calls. But I don't think if you miss the call you can reasonably expect to call the surgery and go straight through. If the doctor was making calls (which they were) the line would have been busy and the receptionist wouldn't have been able to put you through. The only way the receptionist could have got the doctor to speak to you would have been to physically go to the office, wait for him to finish his call and tell him face to face he needed to take your call. Given that the receptionist probably had lots of other calls to answer and face to face patients to deal with she made the right call, she couldn't put all the other patients on hold to spend time dealing with one patient who hadn't managed to answer the phone on time.

Like I say, it would have been nice if she'd agreed to pass the doctor a note asking to readd you to the list, but YABU if you just expect to get straight through.

Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 14:04

Faulty, your right I've just spoken to my phone provider and there is a signal issue in my area at the moment. I understand gps are very over stretched.

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Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 14:11

Aermingers I did not expect them to put me through straight away, that would BU! Your surgery has a more reasonable system. I will suggest this to my surgery. It was the punishing tone she used that was frustrating.

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SockDrawer · 08/12/2014 14:20

I know you're right really richtea, it would just be so much better if you could say 'I know I'm going to need to see the dr' and skip the phone call on occasion.

Hope you've been sorted now OP.

Jamrollypolly · 08/12/2014 22:52

Thanks sock all sorted.

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