"Telephone answering/ switchboard"

Anything else?

Today I have spent over 30 minutes trying to get through to the hospital. The main switchboard answering system kept me on hold on one occassion for 12 minutes with the constant repetition that my call was being held in a queue and that they were sorry for the delay which is obviously not the case. In trying to call Ward 12 directly the call was deliberately disconnected on four occassions. When I did eventually get through to the switchboard and complained I was told not to shout. In asked to be put through to management to complain I was put through to Urology - an example of either total lack of care by the staff or spite that someone should have the audacity to complain about this extremely poor service. This is not a one off incidentally. My elderly mother has exactly the same problem in trying to get through and is regularly cut off. Either some staff need to be sacked or additional staff employed - most probably a combination of both. Hardly surprising, therefore, that this health authority is so badly in the red. It really needs to get its act together and provide a basic telephony service!