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Difficulties getting a phone appointment and triage

Posted By fluteqz93

"Difficulties getting a phone appointment and triage"

About: Sidwell Street Clinic / Exeter Sexual Health

(as a service user),

The initial telephone call to try and book an appointment was frustrating..I have been bleeding heavily since a Mirena coil was fitted at the hospital in June. Was told all appointments had gone by 9.45 am that day and to try again the next day..no guarantee I could get an appointment then. Tried again next day.. same scenario. I was very stressed at this point. They could not give me any advice about stopping the bleeding or allay my fears. Triage didn't exist. That was extremely poor.

I booked an online appointment for a week later. This was a different experience entirely. The person I spoke to was so helpful and actually listened to what I said. I felt heard. Had an appointment  and they could not find the coil. Referred to hospital for a scan

Discharged with mini pill to try and halt the bleeding. I do think the triage system to make an appointment needs a major overhaul as I was left to fight for a telephone appointment when I felt very worried. Website opening hours were not accurate either. However the follow up treatment I had when I secured an appointment was very good.

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Responses

Response from Colette Pearse, Admin Lead - Exeter Sexual Health Service, Sexual Health Service - Exeter, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 weeks ago
We have made a change
Colette Pearse
Admin Lead - Exeter Sexual Health Service, Sexual Health Service - Exeter,
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 13/11/2025 at 09:19
Published on Care Opinion at 10:40

Dear Fluteqz93,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback about booking an appointment with our service. We are sorry you experienced a delay in obtaining an initial appointment and we fully understand how important timely access to care is.

We routinely offer a number of same-day telephone consultation appointments, which can be booked via our main appointment line. The number of appointments available may vary depending on staffing levels and the number of clinics running each day, so to ensure we can manage these safely within our opening hours, we have to limit the number of slots we can offer.

Once these appointments are fully booked, patients may be offered an alternative appointment option if appropriate, or may wish to call the following morning for new availability. Alternatively, patients can book through our online system. Our current process is to offer patients experiencing potentially urgent medical symptoms, an urgent appointment and we apologise that this did not happen when you first contacted us. We understand the frustration and concern that this caused.

We are pleased that you found using our online booking system a positive experience and were able to arrange a face-to-face appointment with our clinical team for advice.

After receiving your feedback, we have reviewed our telephone booking process to ensure that patients presenting by phone with specific symptoms are appropriately signposted, helping to avoid any delay in accessing treatment or advice. We will also pass on your comments to our Communications Team regarding our website information.

We’d like to thank you once again for your patience and for raising your concerns and we do hope you will feel confident in accessing our services again in the future should you need to do so.

Kind Regards

Colette

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by fluteqz93 (a service user)

Thank you for taking on board my initial frustration about securing a telephone appointment. I was at the time extremely worried because I had been bleeding so heavily for many weeks and knew this was not normal. I was concerned about anaemia which I have suffered from in the past. I understand that sometimes appointments can't be made the same day but wasn't advised that I could book online, I had to discover that myself. The further weeks wait, whilst still bleeding heavily seemed to drag but when the telephone appointment did take place it was determined quickly by the Doctor that I needed an urgent appointment and there was minimal delay which alleviated my concern. The referral to the hospital was quick and I actually had a scan this week, plus an XRay which determined that my coil must have expelled itself without my knowing, which is entirely possible with the heavy blood loss I experienced. The Cerelle tablets have been a godsend and I haven't had any bleeding since taking 2 a day. The care I received once an appointment was booked online was exemplary.

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