Southern Group Practice is facing significant strain, with six receptionists handling hundreds of calls per hour during the intense 8am surge, two MHKs have said.
Last week Rushen MHKs Speaker Juan Watterson and Dr Michelle Haywood met with the practice for three hours to discuss patient access and workload pressures.
Dr Haywood said: “I am grateful to my constituency colleague Speaker of the House of Keys Juan Watterson for arranging our meeting with the Southern Group Practice, and for the time that we spent with the staff discussing all the issues that have been raised with us in recent weeks.”
The Practice provides around 41,000 appointments annually, about 4.8 per patient, but remains 1.5 GPs short despite months of recruitment.
Over 31% of patients are aged over 65, with significant numbers in their 80s and 90s.
Staff turnover, driven partly by incidents of abuse and racism, has reduced phone capacity as new staff require training. The meeting also heard that complaints often appear on Facebook rather than being raised directly with the Practice.
The Practice experiences 80 to 90 missed appointments per month, or 2.5%, though reminder texts help keep this relatively low.
Several matters will be followed up with Manx Care, including facility and technical concerns.