Mother's '196 calls for an appointment' as Walsall GP services labelled 'unacceptable'

Harden Health Centre and the Blakenall Practice have been reported to the health regulator following a string of complaints from people saying they were unable to get through to get an appointment with a GP.

Stephen Craddock, health boss at Walsall Council, called the level of service "dreadful" and said patients deserved better.

The surgeries are both run by Modality Partnership, which said it was taking steps to improve services.

One mother, Jessica, whose three-year-old son has complex medical needs, said she made a staggering 196 calls but, despite living on the same road as Harden Health Centre, was unable to get through.

Another frustrated caller waited on the phone for 90 minutes trying to get through, while a complainant said they couldn't get an appointment for a newborn baby despite being advised they needed to see a doctor.

Councillor Craddock said he had asked the Black Country Clinical Commissioning Group to investigate, while patient body Healthwatch Walsall has written to the Care Quality Commission.

Investigate

He said: "It's awful. This is a contract matter between the NHS and CCG and it doesn't seem to be working very well.

"I have asked the CCG to investigate, and Healthwatch have been asked to get involved."

The cabinet member for health suggested the practices had been unable to cope with the volume of calls due to a lack of resources.

He said: "It's the number of patients, the number of telephone lines, the number of receptionists and number of doctors. It's probably a combination of all those things.

"Whatever they're doing it isn't working."

Local councillor Pete Smith has been campaigning on the issue after speaking to residents and Healthwatch.

He said: "The feeling amongst residents is certainly one of great dissatisfaction with elements of the service that they expect but are not receiving from their local health centres and GP practices.

"Difficulty getting through on the phone, some receptionists who are perceived by many patients as having an “attitude problem”, the inability to get an appointment and even greater difficulty getting an urgent appointment."

The complaints come after staff at a surgery in Stourbridge pleaded with patients to treat them with respect after being subjected to "regular levels of verbal abuse and aggression".

A Modality Partnership spokesman said: "We are very grateful to the vast majority of our patients who have recognised our efforts but we acknowledge there are patients who are frustrated with us.

"There is always room for improvement. This is why we have continued to recruit additional staff with the aim of reducing the reliance on GPs.

"We are also in the process of changing our phone system provider as the existing system has not coped well with the significant increase in volume of calls."