Helen Salisbury: Hanging on the telephone
BMJ 2021; 372 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n786 (Published 23 March 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;372:n786Read our latest coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
Dear Editor
What about the 8:30am rule? I know of 3 practices (one with which I am registered in Newbury, and two my family attend in North London) where patients are told they have to phone at exactly 8:30am if they wish to make an appointment. Furthermore, the appointment has to be on that day - no appointments are taken for subsequent days even if none is available on the day of the call - you are told to phone again at 8:30am.
Can you imagine a private service operating a system like that?
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editor
As always Helen Salisbury comments are so true. One aspect not mentioned though is the time spent listening firstly to covid messages (and often finishing with ring 111 if ill, not your dr) and now vaccine messages- don't ring us, ring 119 or wait till you get a letter or text These take at least 3 and in some local practices 7 minutes before the option of talking to someone. Each of these in most systems takes up a phone line' into the surgery so many times the phone system is jammed with people listening (again and again ) to messages about covid,
A real barrier to care that seems to have gone unchallenged
Could I request these message are stopped or they go to -Press 1 to talk about covid , Press 2 to talk about vaccines and then 3 to talk to a receptionist all within 10 seconds of ringing?
And e consult is not what everybody wants but seemingly have very little choice (no voice) in some practices
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Helen Salisbury: Hanging on the telephone
Dear Editor
This problem is solved. My practice have a system where you ring once, book a place in the queue and then you get rung back just before you get to the top of the queue. It works brilliantly and has transformed the experience.
Competing interests: No competing interests