A GP surgery has responded to complaints on social media from patients about long delays in getting through on the phone.

One woman said she spent almost two hours waiting for someone at the Park Lane Practice to pick up on June 1.

Sandy Looker told the Adver the delay put £9.20 on her phone bill. The 67-year-old had called to book an appointment to discuss bladder problems caused by her fibromyalgia, which leads to pain and tiredness.

“There’s rarely any doctors at the surgery anymore, I tried to call multiple times but gave up. Then eventually it got so bad that I had to call and wait on the phone no matter how long it took. It was one hour and 43 minutes until someone picked up the phone and answered my call.

“I was absolutely disgusted by it. It wasn’t the first time this has happened and it certainly won’t be the last.

Sacha Rouse was pregnant with her second son when she needed medical attention last year. She said she rang the practice many times trying to book an appointment but struggled to get through.

She said: “I felt like I was an inconvenience to them. I was in pain, they kept telling me there was nothing wrong with me.

“It seems like Covid was like an excuse for them to do less work, see less people, and not have to deal with the problems. They had an excuse not to answer the phone.”

In a post on Facebook some said they had moved to another surgery because of problems they faced at Park Lane.

The practice was rated as requiring improvement in services, caring and responsiveness and inadequate for leadership in2018.

But it received a good rating in the most recent inspection from the Care Quality Commission in January last year.

A spokesman said: “While we are unable to comment on the care of individual patients, we can say with full confidence that all staff at Park Lane are 100 per cent committed to ensuring that each and every patient receives a safe standard of high-level care, and that any instances which fall short of this mark will be investigated thoroughly and acted upon appropriately.

“We maintain a culture of openness, honesty and striving to improve, and always welcome feedback from our patients, going as far as to have a dedicated complaints officer in the practice to oversee this process effectively.

“Our patients are at the heart of all we do and, over the last two years, we have introduced a wide range of changes to enhance patient experience, and are pleased that this improvement work has been recognised by the Care Quality Commission, which moved our rating of requires improvement to good following our most recent inspection.

The spokesman added: “Due to pandemic, all GP practices in England have seen unprecedented demand to their services. We are thankful to our patients who have supported us during these difficult times.

"We will continue to work hard, to provide the best care we can, to our patients. Park lane practice provided more than 4,500 appointments to their patients in last six months.”