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Needing to make a simple Doctors appointment

Posted By phoenixnc85

"Needing to make a simple Doctors appointment"

About: Derby Hospital

(as the patient),

Call the Derby Hospital to make a doctor appointment and literally get told no, and to ring in the morning. I said I just need to make an appointment. Then told again, no and to call the next day. They said there was no GP Clinic that day and until the next week. I said so, can I make an appointment for next week? They said no, I need to call tomorrow.

What is the problem that a person can not call and make a doctor appointment? I am not going to go to A & E and tie up Doctors for just needing medication and a referral as that department is for Emergency. How did I feel- angry and disgusted at the service of the hospital.

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Responses

Response from Nick Mildenhall, Operations Manager, West Kimberley Health Service, Kimberley Country Health Service 3 years ago
We are preparing to make a change
Nick Mildenhall
Operations Manager, West Kimberley Health Service,
Kimberley Country Health Service

Submitted on 18/01/2021 at 5:51 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 6:02 PM

Dear phoenixnc85,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with our health service.

I am disheartened to hear that you felt unassisted with your request to make an appointment with our General Practice (GP) Clinic. At Derby Health Service our team strives to deliver high-quality patient care and it sounds as though on this occasion we fell short. Upon reading your feedback, I have investigated the matter to better understand why we were unable to provide you with a GP appointment.

On the day of your call, our administration team were navigating unforeseen clerical staffing shortages which unfortunately included our GP Clerk. As a result, the phone line in the GP Clinic was diverted to our Reception staff. In our health service, there are several different computer programs used throughout our departments (I.e. GP, Emergency, Visiting Specialist, Radiology) and while in an ideal scenario our clerical team would be trained to use all of these programs, that is sometimes not possible. In this instance, our Receptionists were unable to book GP appointments until the return of the dedicated clerk the following day.

While these circumstances were unforeseen and understandably inconvenient, our staff should have provided you with an adequate explanation to avoid confusion or frustration and left a message with our GP Clerk to return your call with a convenient appointment, rather than putting the onus on you to call back. Our Administration Coordinator is reviewing our customer service practices regarding this and will update you on any changes that are made.

I am keen to ensure that you receive the necessary healthcare from our team and so, if you feel comfortable, I would appreciate being able to speak with you. My name is Nick Mildenhall and I am the Operations Manager at Derby Hospital. You can contact me via email at: Derby.OperationsManager@health.wa.gov.au or by phone on (08) 9193 3674. Alternatively, please feel free to contact our Administration Coordinator, Jessica Martin at DRH.AdminCoordinator@health.wa.gov.au or by phone on (08) 9193 3345.

Once again, thank you for sharing your concerns and I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to you on this occasion.

Kind Regards,

Nick Mildenhall

Operations Manager

Derby Health Service

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