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Emergency Dental Care

Posted By vickij50

"Emergency Dental Care"

About: Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust / Dental care

(as other),

My partner has a severe tooth ache & we were advised by two dental practices plus 111 to ring Derby Emergency after 6pm when he would be booked an appointment with an out of hours dentist. Silly us! ! we believed what we were told and duly called the out of hours number 01332-888085 - Coleman Dental Clinic - and, after hearing the same message "we are currently experiencing a high volume of calls please call later" for 50 mins I eventually got put in the queue at No. 5 with "waiting time of 13mins" after waiting for 33mins & moving up to No. 2 in the queue I was told waiting time was "1min" then "2mins" then "3 mins" then "4 mins" then "5 mins" so after moving up the queue it seems you wait longer! ! ! How can that possibly be right? ? My partner is still in pain but there is no one to help either of us - this really needs to be sorted! ! 

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Responses

Response from Derbyshire Community Health Services Foundation Trust 8 years ago
Derbyshire Community Health Services Foundation Trust

Submitted on 26/07/2016 at 12:14
Published on Care Opinion at 12:43

Dear Vickij50

We are sorry to hear about your recent experience when accessing care at Coleman Street.

This service provides Emergency Care for the whole of the county and experiences a large number of calls on a daily basis as demand is often high.

All calls are placed in a queuing system which automatically provides an estimated hold time. Unfortunately this is not always accurate as some call handlers will need to triage each caller to determine if they meet the criteria for emergency care. This can often be complex and time consuming. In addition to booking appointments the staff also provide information on pain relief and advice to patients on how to access NHS dental care on a regular basis.

Staff taking calls start their shift earlier to answer the telephones however, at some point will also be providing support on reception for those patients attending the clinic. This may lead to a slight delay on answering calls immediately.

We hope your partner has been successful in obtaining dental treatment to alleviate his pain and provide regular dental care.

If you would like to talk to us about your experiences please contact the patient experience team on 01773 525119. With best wishes

With many thanks

Lana

Head of Patient and Family Centred Care

Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust

Update posted by vickij50 (other)

My answer to your response is: "get more staff & then perhaps you will be able to answer calls quicker - I don't think after waiting for 83 mins (& still not having my call answered) is acceptable do you?

Response from Derbyshire Community Health Services Foundation Trust 8 years ago
Derbyshire Community Health Services Foundation Trust

Submitted on 29/07/2016 at 11:41
Published on Care Opinion at 11:59

Dear Vickij50

I am very sorry you experienced a significant wait when attempting to telephone the emergency dental service. We would like to better understand your experience so that we may look into why you encountered such a delay. Please can you contact our Patient Experience Team on 01773 525119 so that we may look into this for you.

With best wishes

Lana

Head of Patient and Family Centred Care

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