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Unable to speak to someone on the phone

Posted By sacco

"Unable to speak to someone on the phone"

About: Royal Melbourne Hospital

(as a relative),

I rang the 'reschedule and cancel' phone number to cancel my spouse's appointment that they had in the Neurosurgery Clinic. After waiting 18 minutes on hold, I decided to reschedule online. After doing that, I rang the same number again, again and again, sometimes waiting on the line for 30 to 40 min. This started at 8.05am and I was still going at 6.00pm, when I was told that they were closed because of a meeting the department was having.

I had a calming glass of ale.... but wait there is more ...... next day rang back at 10.15am and yes you guessed, it same old recording this time only for 8 minutes this time. Next step was to ring the main number (9342 7000), explained the story to a very patient staff member, trying not to yell at them as they were not to blame. I hope you are reading this managers because I believe you are to blame.

I believe you are the people who decide to have cutbacks and do not have enough staff on ... and all I was trying to do is find out whether or not Royal Melbourne Hospital had received my email and when was my spouse's appointment was being changed to!

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Responses

Response from George Braitberg, Executive Director Strategy, Quality and Improvement, Melbourne Health 4 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
George Braitberg
Executive Director Strategy, Quality and Improvement,
Melbourne Health

Submitted on 4/09/2019 at 1:42 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:26 PM

picture of George Braitberg

Dear Sacco,

Thank you for your feedback. Firstly I would like to apologise for your experience. Not being able to make contact with the right people in a timely way is a frustrating experience and does not fit with our goal of being a “person centered” organisation.

I have checked in with our outpatient department and have been reassured that your experience is outside our normal performance. Last month we were acknowledged as the best metropolitan health service in providing urgent outpatient appointments within the designated time-frame. Around 40% of these bookings come via phone though an increasing number come via electronic or other digital processes.

I have been reassured that there is always someone allocated to the phones regardless of other activities. Currently our telephone booking system does not provide information about “your position in the queue” but we are investing in a priority booking system which we are rolling out over the next four months to streamline the booking of appointments. This is in preparation for our new electronic medical record (EMR) which will provide greater transparency and simplify the process in the future.

Let me again say how sorry I am for your experience but reassure you that we are making significant changes in the near future. The outpatient booking team has been notified of your complaint.

If you have any problems in the future please contact our consumer liaison service on consumerliaison@mh.org.au

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback.

Regards,

Prof George Braitberg

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