THE son of a 92-year-old man who has been unable to get through to a doctors surgery to book numerous appointments said “something has to change”.

Chris Hall has called St John’s House Medical Centre “absolutely ridiculous” after he called the surgery 37 times on one occasion to book an appointment for his dad Gilbert Hall to no avail.

On another occasion, he claims he booked an appointment which staff then said there was no record of when he arrived.

Chris called the Worcester News after we reported diabetic patient Rosemary Walker’s struggles to get an appointment after she received a letter warning her blood pressure was high.

“He got a letter to say ring the surgery for a call back after he’d been in hospital, even though I told them before he struggles to hear over the phone,” said Chris.

He said Gilbert was taken to hospital earlier this month due to a problem with his hand and difficulty breathing.

He received a letter last Wednesday (February 6) saying he needed to arrange a call back with the surgery to check how he was.

However, Chris said his dad called 10 times, but the line was continuously busy.

“He threw the letter in the bin and said, ‘sod them’,” explained Chris.

In December last year, he had attempted to make a different appointment for his dad but gave up after 37 calls failed to get through, he claims.

Chris said he drove over to the surgery and told them he’d “rang and rang and rang but nobody answered”.

He said he was told the surgery is very busy, but claims he then rang the number whilst standing in the surgery but the phone didn’t ring.

Later that same week, Gilbert had an appointment already booked for an injection and when he and Chris arrived, they were told there was no record of the appointment on the computer.

Gilbert has been a patient at St John’s House for years and his son said the surgery’s track record has “always been bad” but is much worse nowadays.

“You can’t phone them, it’s impossible,” he continued. “You have to go down there before it opens each day.

“They’re not answering the phone, simple as that,” Chris added.

The surgery was unavailable for comment.