Patients left frustrated after telephone issue at Melton GP surgery

The Melton Times received several calls from residents complaining they were unable to make appointments or seek advice at Latham House Medical Practice.

Callers were diverted to a message asking them to ring 111, the free nationwide NHS number for non-emergencies.

Deputy Melton Council leader, Councillor Leigh Higgins said he had also fielded several calls from frustrated patients.

He said: “I’ve had five calls today and yesterday about this and Latham House really should have had a better system in place to deal with it.

“They are already in special measures and this situation with the phone lines is ridiculous.”

Latham House said BT were notified about the problem at 8.50am on Monday.

Nigel Jackson, contracts and performance manager for the practice, said: “Our service contract with BT is for a six hours turnaround – for which the practice pays extra.

“BT placed our system on divert, as the problem was system-related and not line-related, hence we were unable to provide patients with a personalised message.

“For technical reasons, BT were unable to divert calls to 111.

“Hence calls were diverted to an alternative number with a message to dial 111 NHS Urgent and Emergency Care Services, and 111 were aware of our situation.”