This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Contacting Reception of Maxillofacial Department

Story from nhs.uk

"Contacting Reception of Maxillofacial Department"

About: Hospital Of St Cross (Rugby)

Needed to speak urgently with above department and rang telephone line shown on this website.

Rolling recorded message told me that busiest times were 9am until noon and were best avoided and that I should call back later.

I was calling at 3pm.

I sat on hold listening alternately to a ringing tone and then a recorded message for in excess of half an hour.

Gave up in the end and obliged to go elsewhere.

Hugely frustrating that the hospital cannot be bothered to -

1) man areas where they have phones

2) pick up a ringing phone

3) have enough staff to cover an obviously busy telephone line

It's one of the three.

At the least get a phone that suggests where you are in the queue.

With this I'd have known if I was in fact waiting for a queue to be processed or if there was just no one going to answer the phone.

nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Hospital Of St Cross 7 years ago
Hospital Of St Cross

Submitted on 10/05/2016 at 14:28
Published on nhs.uk on 11/05/2016 at 02:30

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide feedback on your experience when trying to contact the Maxillofacial department at the Hospital of St Cross.

I was very sorry to hear about your concerns, and I apologise for the delays which you faced when trying to call the department recently.

These are not the standards to which we aim for, and I have raised your comments with the Bookings Centre, which manages this phone line.

On the day in question (21 April), the phone lines to the Bookings Centre were considerably busier than average.

However, you should not have been kept waiting for this long, and for this we apologise.

We monitor our call answering times closely and our Bookings Centre has been doing a lot of work to try to improve these.

Currently the phones are manned on a rota basis by Bookings Centre staff, who also handle electronic bookings.

We are currently in the process of recruiting staff to a new dedicated call centre, which should mean we are more efficient and have quicker telephone response times.

The first of these new team members is due to start later this month, and we expect to see an improvement in call answering times as a result.

Thank you also for your suggestion about the message announcing callers’ place in the queue.

We have asked if this would be possible.

Unfortunately our current telephone system does not allow us to do this, but we will continue to look into this, as we can appreciate that it must be frustrating for callers such as yourself.

If you would like to discuss any aspects of your care further, then please contact the Trust’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service on 0800 028 4203. If you would prefer to contact us by e-mail, our address is feedback@uhcw.nhs.uk

Alternatively, you can write to us at the following address: -

PALS

University Hospital

Clifford Bridge Road

Coventry

CV2 2DX

If you do decide to contact us, please make us aware that you have left comments on the NHS Choices website.

The Trust is grateful for all feedback, positive or negative, as it means we can better understand what is important to our patients.

Thank you for leaving your comments on NHS Choices.

Communications Team

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

Telephone 0800 028 4203

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k