Another patient has contacted the Oxford Mail to express frustration at the waiting times they face on the phone to their GP surgery.
The man, who is a patient at The Leys Health Centre, said he was left waiting 30 minutes and was still 22nd in the queue. He added that on another call back he was 15th in the queue.
The man said that by lunchtime it is ‘impossible’ to get an appointment at the surgery for the same day.
He added: “If you call after 10am, only a phone call from doctor available if you’re lucky.”
READ MORE: We phoned Oxford doctors to see how long it takes them to answer
Screenshots from the man’s call log on his phone show his call history to the surgery, with some calls lasting 40, 32 and 27 minutes.
Clare Messenger, practice manager at The Leys Health Centre, said: “We are very sorry that patients experience long waiting times on the phone at certain times of the day.
“We would encourage our patients who have access to a smartphone or computer to use our online consultation facility which the practice responds to within one working day. We would also urge people who are able to use online patient services to order repeat prescriptions online and to use community pharmacists for consultations regarding minor illness in the first instance.
“These actions will then allow for patients who have urgent medical issues and vulnerable sections of the population to access the practice via the telephone.
The practice manager added that the surgery has provided more than 5,000 appointments in the last four weeks and the patient services team has answered around 400 calls per day.
She added: “This is at a time of unprecedent challenges including still being in the midst of a Covid pandemic, increased numbers of patients experiencing mental health issues, increased management in primary care of patients whose conditions means that they are waiting for secondary care appointments and the continued care of the high numbers of people with long term chronic diseases such as diabetes and COPD.
“This is in a context of being unable to recruit the full completement of staff into general practice in Oxford, a problem shared by many GP Practices.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our patients for their continued support.”
READ MORE: Oxford doctors surgery responds after 32 minute phone wait
Julie Dandridge, head of primary care at Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, described how GP practices in the county are experiencing a ‘significant increase in demand for services’ and ‘regrettably’ this may lead to longer waits.
Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, city councillor Northfield Brook, has said staff at the surgery have seen an 'unprecedented' number of patients in recent days.
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