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Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to feed back to the practice your thoughts on the current telephone system. The telephone system was upgraded in July this year to enable a call back system. If there are more than 8 callers in the queue, you will be offered the option of a callback. Should you choose to select this option your position in the queue will be saved. On reaching position 1 in the queue you will receive your call back, please be aware depending upon the callers ahead of you this could take between 1 minute and 1 hour. When you receive your call back and goes through to your voicemail this will still count as your callback. The practice will leave a message, but you will need to call again which may involve re-joining the queue. If you receive a call back, but the phone connects and there is no voicemail, your call will be returned to the queue. The practice will attempt to call you twice more, and if you do not answer on the third attempt your place in the queue is lost which will require you to call the practice to restart the process. If you have requested a call back, please be patient, if you call again when already in the queue and request a second call back you will not get a call any quicker, but instead you would have booked two call backs, this only blocks the line for other patients. Since this system has been in place we have received very positive feedback. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to feed back to the practice your thoughts on the current telephone system. The telephone system was upgraded in July this year to enable a call back system. If there are more than 8 callers in the queue, you will be offered the option of a callback. Should you choose to select this option your position in the queue will be saved. On reaching position 1 in the queue you will receive your call back, please be aware depending upon the callers ahead of you this could take between 1 minute and 1 hour. When you receive your call back and goes through to your voicemail this will still count as your callback. The practice will leave a message, but you will need to call again which may involve re-joining the queue. If you receive a call back, but the phone connects and there is no voicemail, your call will be returned to the queue. The practice will attempt to call you twice more, and if you do not answer on the third attempt your place in the queue is lost which will require you to call the practice to restart the process. If you have requested a call back, please be patient, if you call again when already in the queue and request a second call back you will not get a call any quicker, but instead you would have booked two call backs, this only blocks the line for other patients. Since this system has been in place we have received very positive feedback. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for sharing your experience of the surgery with our colleagues from Healthwatch when attending for your flu vaccination. Without further information we are unable to comment on the individuals’ experiences. We do have some directly bookable face to face GP appointments however, most of our patients are telephone triaged by the GP in the first instance. Should the clinician require a face to face, appointment either in the surgery or by the home visiting service this will be assessed at the time of the call. Since initiating the telephone triage during COVID we have been able to look after more patients as we have found we no longer have patients not attending for a pre-booked appointment. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for giving your feedback to a member of the Healthwatch team when visiting the surgery for your flu vaccination. I am unable to give you a direct answer as to why you were not able to visit the surgery without further details. However, I can give you a general answer should you contact the surgery requesting an appointment. The on-call doctor and nurse practitioner look after the same day appointments, once these have been allocated the receptionist will explain capacity has been reached and will direct the patient to another service such as 111 for advice or the Walk In Centre for treatment. Both services have access to the patient record to enable the patient to be supported. The patient may also be referred to their local Pharmacy for advice. Most of the same day appointments are telephone triage, the clinician will discuss your concerns and should there be a clinical need will make a face to face appointment. We have found using this system we are able to support and care for more of our patients. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient Thank you for the positive feedback you gave to one of the Healthwatch team at the time of your flu vaccination. Maintaining the service of the practice during the COVID pandemic and after was a challenging time for the practice, with the need to protect staff to ensure services were maintained such as repeat prescriptions as well as ensuring vulnerable patients were protected when visiting the surgery for a face-to-face appointment. I am pleased you were happy with the service provided with regard to your flu clinic experience. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for the positive response you gave to the Healthwatch team when attending for your recent flu vaccination at Sprowston Surgery. Most appointments are by telephone triage with the doctor/nurse practitioner inviting the patient to the surgery if there is a clinical need. We have continued using this type of appointment as it enables the clinicians to help and support more patients. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient Thank you for taking the time to speak with one of our colleagues from the Healthwatch Team. In response to your comment of ringing the practice at 8am, it is difficult to advise as there are so many variables. For a same day need it is best to call at 8am and remain in the queue, we have additional staff trained to answer the phones at this time. For non-urgent enquiries and routine appointments, we advise to ring later in the day. Thank you for your understanding and appreciation of the staff of the practice. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for your positive comments when speaking with a member of the Healthwatch Team when attending one of our flu vaccinations clinics. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for you comments given to Healthwatch at your flu clinic appointment. Most GP/Nurse Practitioner appointments telephone triaged with a face-to-face conversation where appropriate. The clinicians can deal with more patients each day than they did before the pandemic. It would be unfair of me to comment on your diagnosis without further information. I am sorry to hear of your results and do hope you continue to make a good recovery. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for your positive feedback given to the Healthwatch Team at the time of your flu vaccination. We are vey pleased you are happy with the changes we have made with the telephone system. We have trained additional staff to answer the phone at 8am which enables the call queue to reduce more quickly. If a same day appointment is not required, it is advised to ring later in the day for general enquiries and routine appointments. Thank you for your comment regarding your blood test appointment this is a service that the practice is not commissioned to provide but offers this service to support our patients. Yours sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager

Dear Patient, Thank you for taking the time to speak with Healthwatch at one of our flu clinics. I am sorry to read you don’t feel listened to when speaking with members of the team without any further details I am unable to comment on individual circumstances. Your sincerely Carol Postle Compliance Manager