Important Update
Dear Patient,
We understand that it can sometimes be frustrating for you to make an appointment with us, and we have listened to your concerns. We have carefully examined the requests for appointments and our capacity to meet them, and we are planning significant improvements. But we need your help to make it happen.
What we learned from you:
We have analysed the calls and contacts we receive in relation to the number of available appointment slots with our clinical team. We have considered the types of services you require and the best healthcare professionals to address those needs.
We have also studied the volume of calls we receive and the times when they are most frequent. We have considered all the feedback you provided about the difficulties of reaching us by phone or securing the appointment you need.
We found there is a significant difference between the number of GP appointments requested and the number that require a GP’s expertise. We are making these changes so that when you need a GP appointment, we can deliver it for you.
What we ask of you:
We kindly ask for two things. Firstly, we request that you allow our online care navigation team to assist you in booking the most appropriate appointment. We understand that it may sometimes feel like we are trying to prevent you from seeing a GP, but our highly trained team includes our most experienced doctors to ensure safety and make the best use of our resources. This brings us to the second point.
We need your input on how we can make this process work better for you. We have a patient group that meets every three months, and we are extending an invitation to all patients to attend these meetings. The next one will take place on 13th November 2025 at 2pm. To ensure we have enough space for everyone, please book your spot in advance. If you prefer, you can join us virtually and submit your questions beforehand, so you don’t have to ask them during the meeting. Please let us know if you would like a link.
We will continue to hold these meetings every 8-12 weeks to update you on our progress and listen to your suggestions for further improvement.
What else you can do:
You will appreciate, we receive a large number of telephone calls each week. While our team can handle all the calls, the issue lies in the timing. For example, Mondays at 8.00 am are four times busier than Wednesdays at 3.00 pm. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to adjust our team’s availability to that extent. Therefore, we are kindly asking all patients to use our online tool to contact us from 1st October. There’s more information at the end of this letter. We promise to respond to all queries within one working day. When you need an appointment, we will send you a message with your appointment date and time, without having to call us. This way, we can redirect staff and resource to online care navigation and we can keep our phone lines available for the very few patients who struggle with online technology.
What we commit to do:
If you can support us in implementing these changes, here’s what will happen:
Whenever you get in touch with us, you can expect consistent service. You won’t have to wait on hold or call us early in the morning to secure an appointment. If you need an appointment, we will make sure you get one.
We will recruit healthcare professionals based on the actual needs of our patients. By working together to adjust our clinical model, we will bring in the right clinicians and other professionals, so you won’t have to call us again another day. Sometimes, we may recommend that you see another service, such as a pharmacy or optician. These partners are working closely with us to meet your needs.
We cannot make these changes in isolation. We need your assistance to guide us towards the right appointments, and we need to recruit and train our team accordingly.
Please join us at our next patient meeting to learn more about our efforts and share your thoughts on how we can make this work better for you and your family.
Warm regards,
Dr Azhar Siddiqui
Senior Partner
Keighley Road Surgery