Three Rivers Medical

CUSTOMER SERVICE & COMMUNICATION NEEDS IMPROVEMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE On Monday 17.4.23 I rung to make an appt with a nurse, where I got the voicemail, so i left a message, which was all good. Come Fri 21.4.23 I hadnt received any comms to follow up on my message or confirmation of my appt day/time, so on this day I made contact and chose to speak to the Receptionist. My impressions of the way the Receptionist handled my call was not received very well. There was a long pause before the Receptionist greeted me and it was as tho I was expected to make the first acknowledgement. Finally I was greeted with a Hi, your speaking with..... So I proceeded and responded saying Hi, could I make an appt to see a nurse on this date and at this time, pls. Can i have your name, pls So I gave my name but it was obvious I wasnt clear and loud enough in my speech, which I own. So I spoke more slowly, with the mouthpiece closer, with more volume and spelling out my name T for.... A for...N for...etc. Although i did this I was asked more than twice to repeat my name. Annoying but we got pass that bit in the end, sweet. Then I was asked again what I was ringing for. Frustrated at this point because it was obvious the Receptionist wasnt paying much attention to our phone convo and I felt like I was more of an inconvenience to her day. Suggestion: Maybe use a pen and paper to write down what the patient is wanting and when asking the patient to repeat thier name, dont guess what you heard, apologize to the patient for not getting what was said and ask the patient to spell out their name. COMMUNICATION I then repeated what I said in the beginning to be told the appointment was in the system from when I left my voice message on Monday. I was grateful for this, but playing guessing games is not cool! I then asked how was I supposed to have known the appt had been confirmed. I was then told the nurses dont contact patients when appts have been booked. Confused and more annoyed by this. I totally understand this when you speak to a nurse, but when a voice message is left on the answerphone, in my opinion this would warrant a follow up phone call, so patients are not left guessing. The communication process between the Manage my Health when ordering a repeat and the Pharmacy needs to be more streamlined. Apparently the Pharmacy dont have visibility to this system where scripts are concerned, so the right hand dont know what the left hand is doing...Aue! Thanks
Apr 21st, 2023

Very friendly staff. Appointment including x-ray took only 20 minutes.
Mar 9th, 2023

Really difficult to get through. We had made appointments for the week of the Cyclone clean up and were told only emergencies in that week and everything else would be postponed. Waited all week with no call at all. We had already waited 3.5 weeks for these appointments. Now finally got through and the earliest appointment is 3 weeks away again so we go back on the waiting list. This place is a joke , regardless of what the issue is they seem to not care or have no sense of urgency. Very dissappinting ! Really sad.
Feb 12th, 2023

Basic customer service lacking at pharmacy - not even a smile from a mature staff member.
Dec 28th, 2022

I came into 3 Rivers Medical yesterday around 6pm to request a script for repeat medication for Mr Leslie Barbara. His doctor is Mr Simon Spenceley. I am his eldest sister. I was in an elevated state as he had been trying to get through to 3 Rivers after missing a call from his doctor and he was feeling nausea and had no success. The receptionist on was Sophie Akroyd who was amazingly calm helpful and pleasant, which automatically calmed me and she went over and above to find a doctor but ended up talking to a Nurse called Lynn Jenkins who managed to find a doctor to sign the script. Lynn was also amazingly kind , pleasant and helpful. Both these staff members are a credit to 3 Rivers. I also noticed Sophie repeated her caring, pleasant and helpful manner with a lady who was clearly unwell and had been released from Waikato a week ago. However, it was disappointing to learn that there was only one doctor available on duty. Lulu Brooking
Jan 4th, 2023