Flagship health practice infuriates flu-jab patients by forcing them to wait 90 minutes on hold when they could just walk-in to pharmacy

Lion Health Centre, Lowndes Road, Stourbridge, have invited patients to phone the hotline but never told them about the walk-in service.

The state-of-the-art medical practice which has been hailed by NHS chiefs as the future of family health care but critics complain it "its right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing".

Lion Health Centre, a £8.5 million mini hospital opened in 2014, has more than 20 GPs and nearly 40,000 patients after taking over smaller practices in the town.

It is one of the biggest medical practices in the Black Country and even the wider West Midlands. However, the Super Partnership experiment stands accused of having grown too fast, too quickly. Patients regularly face a wait on the phone for an hour or more to book routine appointments to see GP.

Mich Coutanche, of Stourbridge, posted on a neighbourhood WhatsApp group: “I had a message from Lion Health to contact them for the flu vaccine. It gave a dedicated number to ring so I thought I might get through promptly. I was wrong.

“It took 1 hour 42 minutes 35 seconds [for the call to be answered]. It’s recorded on my phone if anyone doubts me.”

The post begab an avalanche of similar complaints, with Anthony Prosser, of Amblecote, Stourbridge, writing: “Same here – one hour 34 minutes. What a farce.”

Other patients said they had waited up to an hour before hanging up in frustration, while some said they crept up the telephone queue only to be cut off when they neared the top.

But in WhatsApp posters then highlighted that many pharmacies in the Stourbridge area – which they named - are providing a flu vaccine service, often on a walk-in basis.

Pharmacist Amjid Iqbal, of Withymoor, Stourbridge, said: “Most pharmacies can provided the flu jab for free – the same one you’d get from a GP surgery.

“I can help anyone struggling to get the jab.”

Then, in a final twist, Roger Wells, of Oldswinford, said: “Murray’s Pharmacy on the same site [as Lion Health] offer a walk-in service for flu vaccinations.”

Many patients of Lion Health feel the practice has simply grown too big to operate efficiently and should be given an ultimatum: Sort it out or be broken up into smaller and more manageable surgeries.

Three months ago, the NHS GP Annual Patient Survey revealed that only 15% of patients were satisfied with the telephone booking service – down from 19% in 2020.

This is one of the lowest figures in the Black Country.

But one furious patient has revealed that he had to wait nearly two hours for the phone to be answered.

During Covid, Lion Health’s on-line booking system was suspended and only on-the-day telephone appointments are handed out.

The Express & Star phoned the onsite pharmacy at the Lion Health Centre and they confirmed walk-in flu jabs were available.

Sarb Basi, director of primary care for Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "Primary care colleagues are working hard to ensure access to the annual flu vaccination this winter for all eligible Black Country and West Birmingham residents. Free flu vaccinations can be obtained from your GP or your local pharmacy.

"Demand on GP services remains exceptionally high, so some practices are using measures such as dedicated booking lines to support their flu clinics, and we are grateful for people's continued patience at this very busy time.

"We strongly urge anyone who has been invited to get their free flu jab, to please come forward and do so - to protect yourself and your loved ones from this potentially serious illness this winter."