"Poor experience. "

I contacted the surgery to discuss my daughter’s severe tonsillitis. At that point I explained that she had had two 111 appointments, a triage call and 2 courses of antibiotics, and seen a nurse at the walk-in - who said if not better by Tuesday she needed to see a doctor or go straight to A and E. I decided to ring your practice. I explained she was deteriorating not getting better and that she had not actually been examined by a doctor yet. I was asked to complete a triage form, which was fine. During the next hour (I was told she’d be called at some point that day but not when) – my daughter began to feel very nauseous and was really sleepy. I was worried about a tonsillar abscess and sepsis, so I called the practice back to tell them. Your line clearly states “if you have chest pains or difficulty breathing then hang up and call 999.” It also then clearly says “If this is a medical emergency then press 1.” It does not state specifically what that medical emergency is or what it should be. I felt it was at that point. I am genuinely not a panicker, but I was feeling really concerned about her and a bit helpless. Then woman who answered interrupted me when I tried to explain the situation with an abrupt: “is this about a stroke or a heart attack?” I said "no". She said “well I need to keep this line clear for people with a stroke or heart attack." The inference I got from her abrupt tone was that I was a time waster, not a genuinely panicked mum. I hung up quickly, feeling even worse and scared and unsure what to do.

Please either change your wording on your phone line to express what should constitute an emergency in order to press this option, remove the option entirely, or at least think about the people that ring it – they aren’t all time-wasters.