Most people who try to ring up a Doctors surgery will have encountered an engaged call tone or will have been frustrated by unanswered calls more often than not.

Now, research has shown that between 8am and 10am, six million people are unable to get through to their local surgeries. A total of 93% of calls to Doctor’s landline phone numbers encounter the busy signal. Which is not only frustrating, but also not good enough.

And yet. The problems are mainly encountered on landline phone numbers and not 08 numbers, because 08 numbers can make use of network level services like call queuing, call statistics and such. Of course, the public complains too much about the extra few pence it costs to ring these numbers.

Basically, it’s a case of either pay a few pence more for your call or put up with not getting through. Simple.

Poignant words from Esther Rantzen founder of ChildLine, who this week tried to raise more volunteers for ChildLine after finding that one in three children who pick up the phone don’t get through. Unanswered Call Reporting shows that there just aren’t enough operators to handle the volume of calls coming in. And when you consider the courage it takes a child to actually pick up the phone and report abuse and when you think about what they might suffer at an abusers hand because of an unanswered call – well, it near enough breaks your heart.