Caithness councillor slams NHS Highland over 'absolutely abysmal communication channels'
NHS Highland has been taken to task by a Caithness councillor for its "absolutely abysmal" handling of telephone bookings for Covid booster and flu vaccine clinics.
Councillor Raymond Bremner said he had received numerous complaints, including some from people in tears, and he warned of "astronomical bills" facing those who had to wait in queues for an hour or more in the hope of arranging appointments.
At the same time, a Wick community councillor described the system as a "shambles" and called on the health board's chief executive, Pam Dudek, to issue a public apology.
There have been many reports of frustrating delays for callers trying to contact the vaccination enquiry hub on a Inverness number to book clinics being held in Wick or Thurso. In some cases people have found themselves being cut off after waiting in lengthy queues.
Councillor Bremner, a Highland Council member for Wick and East Caithness, spoke out at the November meeting of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council.
He said he understood it could be the end of December before NHS Highland caught up on the vaccination programme. However, the health board has since said the programme will run into January.
Councillor Bremner took part in a members' briefing offered by Mrs Dudek and has also written to her.
He told Wick community councillors on Monday: “The communication channels that they put in were absolutely abysmal. I was getting complaints left, right and centre.
“There were people who were actually in tears, it was taking so long for them to get an appointment. They were on it for ages and then the phone was getting cut off – it was really, really frustrating for them.
“It's just a shocking programme of what I would have said was mismanagement with the NHS, but the chief executive of NHS Highland absolutely rebuts that.”
Councillor Bremner added: “I even had one person videoing themselves getting to the point where they were number five, number four, number three, number two, just to prove that they were actually going to get the appointment rather than the phone hanging up – and then having to go back to the end of the queue again. It was shocking.
“It is affecting us all and it's wrong.”
Community councillor Wendy Campbell said: “I asked them [NHS Highland] where they advertised and they said social media. Now the older people aren't on social media.
“It was a shambles, and the management should be taken to task because they've upset an awful lot of older people. And now those older people are wondering what kind of phone bill they're going to have because they've been sitting on the phone for two hours.”
Councillor Bremner responded: “The chief executive has accepted that. She has accepted that they need to think differently about the way that they were letting people know – not just on social media but on the website. Not everybody has access to the internet.
“It seemed to be a new dawning with her when they found out that these people were paying astronomical bills waiting in the queues for an hour or an hour-and-a-half and and having to pay for the pleasure of it.
“I thought she was a very brave chief executive having an open session with councillors because it was like Daniel and the lions' den.
“She was very apologetic, but that's of little comfort to your scared citizens. Remember some of them not only are facing the challenge of Covid as being a threat but flu as a threat. Both can kill.”
He added: “Who's the person that is going to wait until the end of December not knowing if they're actually going to make it through that period, if flu gets them first or Covid gets them first or whether they're lucky enough to get their injections?”
Mrs Campbell added: “That woman should be publicly apologising to all those people.”
Councillor Bremner said: “I would agree. If she can apologise to members, she can apologise to the public in the same manner.”
The community council agreed to write to NHS Highland.
A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: "We are very sorry for the challenges some people are having in getting through to our vaccination hub and for the frustration and anxiety that this will have caused.
"GPs are not obliged to provide vaccination and do so contractually based on their own set of circumstances and workloads, so this does make for a variable programme of delivery.
"We absolutely need this blended approach to ensure that we, along with our general practice colleagues, are able to cover the breadth of health and care requirements alongside the vaccination programme.
"We understand how confusing this can be for people and we are very sorry if our communication has added to that confusion. We are taking measures to try to ensure our messages are clear and tailored to local areas.
"Our vaccination programme will run into January, with vulnerable groups being prioritised. We are working to a tight timescale with more vaccinations that need to be delivered than our previous programme, so the conditions are very different.
"We are in the process of issuing invites for clinics for the remainder of November and early December in order that people can plan attending their appointment.
"A detailed breakdown of how the vaccination programmes will be delivered across each GP practice in the NHS Highland board area is available on our website. This highlights how eligible patients will be invited for their Covid-19 booster or third dose and the flu vaccine, depending on which GP practice they are registered with.
"Going forward the majority of patients will be invited by letter to attend the clinics which we expect to result in a smoother process for all involved."
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