IT Issues This Week
Monday’s IT issue was not the best start to the week. Whilst we still had access to the clinical systems, it caused major disruption, including problems accessing the internet. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting on an update about the cause. This wasn’t just our surgery; it affected all of Norfolk. Engineers from ICB/NHS are on the case, and as soon as we know more, we’ll let you know. Thanks for your patience—we appreciate it!
Missed Appointments (DNA Rate)
Between Friday 21st February and Thursday 27th February, 58 appointments were missed. That’s £1,300 in lost resources and longer wait times for everyone. Of those, 18 were GP appointments – 7 were on-the-day bookings, and 11 were pre-booked for routine care.
We completely understand that life happens! If you need to cancel, please use one of these quick and easy options:
• Press 1 on the phone to leave a voicemail
• Click the cancellation link in your SMS reminder
• Cancel via our website
If you cancel outside of surgery hours, we’ll process it first thing the next working morning. Every appointment is valuable – letting us know in advance helps us offer the slot to someone else who needs it.
Staffing Updates
We’re thrilled to introduce three new faces to the team!
• Dr Nederstrom – Our new salaried GP
• Milly – Our new phlebotomist
• Anna – Our new practice nurse
And there’s more…. Coming soon:
• A new receptionist/admin staff member
• A new nurse and healthcare assistant (HCA)
• A new GP relocating from elsewhere in the UK (starting late April)
• An Advanced Nurse Practitioner covering locum shifts (potentially joining us permanently?!)
We’re doing our best to expand the team within the fixed NHS budget. As a GP surgery, we can’t charge for our services, so we’re reliant on Government funding. A new NHS contract was announced today, and we’re crossing our fingers for better investment in GP surgeries (as highlighted in the Darzi report).
Phone System & Wait Times
We know morning phone queues can be frustrating. Last week, the average wait time was 14.5 minutes (with some calls answered faster and others taking longer). As of 15:00 today(28/02/25), we’d handled 348 calls, with an average wait time of just under 13 minutes.
Call-back issues – Our system cannot return calls to withheld or non-UK numbers due to cost and technical restrictions. If we attempt a call-back but don’t get an answer, our staff may not always be able to leave a voicemail. We have had reports of patients explaining that they have not had a call back and when we have investigated, these tend to be the main culprits. Where we have other issues, then these are escalated to the telephony company to investigate.
Queue limits – Our phone system can handle up to 50 callers in the queue at any one time. If that limit is reached, additional callers will get a message saying the queue is full and to try again later. This means that we do not have call queues going as high as 91, as an example. We know this isn’t ideal, but we want to be honest and transparent about the system’s limitations.
To help, we’re adding another staff member next week to improve call handling. We appreciate your patience and will keep working to improve things.
Appointment Wait Times
We offer a mix of GP appointments throughout the week:
• On-the-day appointments – For pressing clinical issues
• Pre-bookable routine appointments – For ongoing concerns, helping improve continuity of care
Before COVID, routine appointments were the norm, and based on patient feedback, we’re shifting back to that system. Most GP appointments are now face-to-face, with some telephone appointments available when appropriate.
Current wait time for a routine GP appointment: 4–6 weeks (this was also the case pre-Covid). We’re actively working to reduce this through better appointment management, reducing DNAs, and recruiting more clinical staff.
Staff Training Afternoons
This week, we closed on Tuesday afternoon for staff training. In 2025, we have four scheduled training afternoons: February, May, July, and November. We understand that these closures may be inconvenient, but they’re essential to keep our team up to date on mandatory training and improvements. Some people ask why GP surgeries close when the police and fire services don’t. The key difference is that GP surgeries aren’t emergency services. For urgent, life-threatening issues, 999 and A&E are the right places to go.
By setting aside time for this, we can improve the service we provide to you. We know that it can be frustrating but working in healthcare, as you would expect, does require a lot of mandatory training that needs to be completed. Thank you for your understanding.
New Look Website
Today our new-look website went live. The only real difference is that it is more “NHS” with the font and branding, and it now aligns with NHS guidance on accessibility and information standards. The layout is a little different, but the content is the same. If you do get stuck, there is a search box in top right-hand corner.
Thank you for reading this update—we know it was a long one! We’re committed to providing the best possible care and will continue to keep you updated on any changes or improvements. If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear from you via the feedback form HERE