Parklands Surgery
4 Parklands Road, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 3DTContact details and opening times
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Review titled Poor Service in Reception
Rated 1 star out of 5
by Anonymous - Posted on 28 July 2022
At 8 o'clock this morning (28th July, 2022), I called at the Parklands Surgery, where I have been a patient for many years, to make an appointment. I was the only person at the reception desk and the telephone was not yet in use; the receptionist could easily have enquired about my symptoms and made the appointment; instead, he/she (the moderation rules on this site forbid identifying a person's gender) told me that I could make an appointment only by telephone; no explanation was offered and the information was, in any event, inaccurate: the website of the surgery allows patients to make appointments in person, though it asks them to avoid doing so, if they can. I pointed out to the receptionist that the telephone often went answered and that, since I lived a short distance away, it was quicker to visit. He/She said that, if the telephone was not answered, I should telephone again. I asked whether an appointment could be made by e-mail; he/she said that it could not. I added that I was concerned about my symptoms; the receptionist did not ask what they were or why they might be urgent, or express any sympathy. I went home and telephoned, as advised, shortly after 8.30. My call to the surgery remained unanswered for 25 minutes, during which the same phrase of cheerful music was repeated, regularly interrupted by an automated message apologising and asking the caller to continue to hold, until I rang off. The fact that staff at the Parklands Surgery prevent patients from making appointments by telephone and that the telephone is often left answered creates a risk that urgent conditions may go untreated; if the management wishes to discourage unnecessary visits to the surgery, it should ensure that calls are answered promptly. I would add that, while I understand the pressure placed upon them by the pandemic, some of the receptionists at the surgery seem to me to lack the sympathetic demeanour needed for public-facing duties involving the ill, old and anxious.
Visited July 2022
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