Patient could not speak to practice on the phone

What happened

Mr E said that he had problems getting through to the Practice to book an appointment for himself and his mother because Practice staff would never answer the phone. He said he and his mother could not visit in person because of their illnesses and the queue, which was out of the door every morning. He said the receptionists had been very rude to him.

Mr E said the Practice had not answered his complaint and despite telling him it would make improvements, it had not.

What we found

The Practice had not made a formal response to Mr E's complaint and had not shown that it had made any improvements. Despite saying it would arrange staff training, it showed no evidence it had done so. The Practice said it had responded to Mr E's complaint and held a complaint meeting, when it had not.

The Practice had a clear problem with telephone access and had not shown that it had taken any action to make improvements. As a result of this Mr E and his mother could not get appointments, had been left stressed and in ill health and had had to visit A&E instead to get medical treatment.

Putting it right

The Practice paid Mr E and his mother £150 each to compensate them for the stress. It also produced a plan of action to show how it will make improvements.