Patients can't get through to Riverside Medical Practice in Musselburgh

Frustrated patients have complained about being unable to get through to the surgery to make an appointment and also highlighted that its website has not been updated since June.

Musselburgh MSP Colin Beattie has written to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman MSP after receiving “a large amount of correspondence” from constituents concerned about communication and issues with the telephone calls not being answered.

The practice, which is based at Musselburgh Primary Care Centre (MPCC), said it was experiencing rising levels of demand in many key services, stressing that, as well as practice staff working additional hours to try and meet levels of demand, it had been actively exploring a range of options to increase both telephone and wider access capacity.

Miriam McHardy, who recently shared her concerns with the practice, said that for two weeks she tried to ring the practice to make an appointment and find out plans for flu jabs this autumn.

She said: “This seems to be an issue that waxes and wanes. It had improved for a while and, early in the pandemic when I had an urgent issue, I got though very quickly and was dealt with well.

“Once an appointment is booked, the staff are great: doctors, nurses and reception. The issue seems to be the blockage around making contact in the first place, which is exacerbated just now as no one can walk in to book [an appointment]. It causes anxiety for many people and I know of some folk who’ve given up trying, which might mean serious issues are missed in time.”

She said the website did not appear to have been updated since June 23.

She claimed: “The lines are permanently busy – no matter what time of the day I ring. A message then states that the lines are busy at the moment and the call is then automatically ended.

“I’ve tried ringing the ‘appointment today’ line but this rings out. I’ve also emailed and had an automatic response saying unsolicited emails are deleted.

“I’ve recently been in touch with Prestonpans and Inveresk surgeries who answered within seconds so it seems specific to Riverside.

“I’m extremely frustrated that it seems to be impossible to make contact with my medical practice and I’m aware from Twitter that I’m not the only person experiencing these problems.

“I am very conscious that Riverside is a busy practice and this is a difficult time. It is not a safe situation, however, to be unable to make contact with the primary care provider in over two weeks.”

Another concerned patient, who declined to be named, said: “My major concern is that it’s sometimes impossible to get through on the telephone, regardless of what buttons are pushed.

“Last week, every time I called, my call ended with a tone that implied the call had been terminated. When I phoned up today to ask for items on my prescription, I eventually got through after waiting for 20 minutes. My only concern about the practice is the inefficient handling of calls.”

Mr Beattie said: “I have received a large amount of correspondence on this matter on an ongoing basis from my constituents.

“This is very concerning, to say the least.

“I know how important it is that people feel they have a reliable health service that will support them in emergencies, and these services must be accessible and robust, particularly given we are in the middle of a pandemic.

“When these concerns were originally brought to my attention, I contacted the practice to ask for their explanation and they assured me that this was because of a high number of calls. I did not feel satisfied with this response and following this I have met with the chief officer of East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, Alison Macdonald, and also I have written to the Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman.

“I am seeking a solution to this situation, as it seems that complaints about this practice have been coming to me for too long.

“The issue is that Riverside are an independent contractor, therefore they do not fall under the remit of the NHS Health Board and it is difficult to escalate complaints relating to the practice.

“I have been exploring avenues of how to make sure that these concerns are heard at a higher level and to ensure the practice is being given the help it needs.

“I would like to assure my constituents that I am taking their concerns seriously and I am working to try to find a resolution to this matter. I would welcome Riverside’s cooperation in working to ensure constituents feel supported and these complaints are listened to and addressed.”

After it merged with Eskbridge Medical Practice, Riverside became the largest practice in East Lothian and one of the biggest in Scotland, with about 19,000 patients.

Doctors Joanna Stenke and Richard Fairclough said: “Riverside, like other GP surgeries in Scotland, is experiencing rising levels of demand in many of our key services. Across the country, a huge amount of multi-agency work is under way to understand the contributing factors to this, and provide long-term solutions.

“Working hard”

“We have been working hard over the last few years to make our service more sustainable and improve access to appointments for our patients – this has included working collaboratively with East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership to increase access to a wider range of healthcare professionals, as well as focusing on the ongoing recruitment of GPs.

“We are very aware that a number of our patients have experienced difficulties or delays getting through to the practice by telephone. We are experiencing very high levels of calls from our patients and are aware that this has led to feelings of frustration. For that we would like to apologise, and offer assurance we are working hard to mitigate this.

“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, several of the services that work closely with the practice to support the needs of the community were withdrawn or reduced. This has undoubtedly had an impact on the practice.

“As well as practice staff working additional hours to try and meet levels of demand, more broadly we have been actively exploring a range of options to increase both telephone and wider access capacity.”

Iain Gorman, head of operations at East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (ELHSCP), said: “These are very difficult times, with all GP practices having to adapt to new ways of working. I know Riverside is very concerned about the issues raised and keen to continue improving services.

“ELHSCP is committed to helping them with this and will be working closely with Riverside to support them to meet their particular challenges.”

Other patients took to social media to share their experiences.

One posted: “Anyone actually got through to Riverside Medical Practice? Been trying for almost two weeks. Also tried transferring to Inveresk practice, but they’re not having it.”

Another said: “42 times I called today before I got through and even then I couldn’t get a doctor and it was an emergency. I now need to contact 111.”