In message <Iw85N.26066$Ee89...@fx17.iad> at Wed, 15 Nov 2023
18:57:44, Sam Plusnet <
n...@home.com> writes
[]
>Wofe tried to get an appointment at the sleep clinic, and no-one would
>answer any of the phone numbers she had for them, not could the
>hospital switchboard do any better.
Tempting to say are they all asleep!
>
>Eventually I suggested she email them - and this worked very promptly.
>However...
>The clinic seem to have outsourced all patient/client/customer contact
>to a private company called DrDoctor.
>
>I assume manyrats will have known all about this for some time, but
>what the merry hell is going on?!?
>
As another has said, hell but not merry. Fortunately I've not had to
deal with the system my surgery uses (which I think is indeed some
outside system), but my dentist has also outsourced, to a system which
quite rudely emails, before your appointment, please fill out these
forms online and if you don't you may lose the appointment. I actually
would try, but it goes like this: go to the webpage (the email actually
contains a link that only works online, but I got the practice to email
me a direct link to it). There, you enter your surname and date of
birth, and it says it has sent a code for you to enter to the 'phone
number it has that is associated with those details. Of course, that is
a landline - and the code does not arrive. [I have actually had a code
to a landline - it's read out, and you can get the reading-out repeated
- but obviously few companies know how to work that.] There's no
mechanism on the website to proceed by any other means. (Such as email.)
I've explained to the practice that I don't use a mobile (I have one,
but am not going to let any company rely on it), and they let me fill in
the forms when I'm there. I don't really want to involve the practice in
sorting this out - it's not really _their_ fault. I suspect the
outsourcing company would actually be liable - under disability
legislation, if nothing else - but getting through to a person who could
understand would be Very Hard Work. (Though actually, I'm feeling like
such a tussle; maybe I'll have a go now.)