"Not acceptable - admin staff let down the hard..."

What could be improved

My comments refer to the admin services and culture at Charing Cross. I have yet to be admitted for clinical services, but dealing with the admin side has been a nightmare.

This covers:-

Lack of response

Lack of engagement

Unhelpfulness

Failure to return calls

Phones going unanswered

Phones constantly engaged

Making apppointments that the clinicians knew nothing about

Being directed to people who do not exist

Being asked to chase referral letters that have not been properly processed by central admissions

Failure to report the outcome of complaints

The single worst telephone system and switchboard in the western world .

Suggestions for improvements:-

Selection of admin staff to make sure they have a customer-facing attitude and ethic

Internal communications

Change the telephone system

Discipline staff who cannot be bothered to return calls - it's their job!

Make staff accountable for service failures

Stop the practice of letting admin managers over-ride clinical requirements.

Force all staff to read, learn and sign up to the Trust's mission statement - it is meant to be a commitment, not just grand words eg "working together" and "respect patients"

Do not expect patients to run round trying to find letters and documents that Trust staff can't be bothered to even look for.

Anything else?

If efficiency, helpfulness and willingness to please were necessary job outputs, Charing Cross admin staff would be out of work. Make them accountable, so they can't hide behind ther desks.