A health centre in Shetland has apologised after “rogue” phone message called patients a “complete numpty”.
The fault at the Lerwick GP Practice stemmed from an automated test message which was accidentally left on its new phone system.
When people pressed option three, it said: “That option is not available at this time. Can you not listen to instructions, you numpty?”
The message was publicly available for several hours.
In a post on Facebook, the GP practice said: “Dear patients and colleagues, if you promise not to laugh, we will tell you about a little fault that appeared on our new phone system.
“Apparently, the programmers used test messages in the development stage of the new phone system. One of these messages is an auto message in an Alexa-style voice that says, ‘this option is not available, can you not listen to instructions you numpty?!’
“Unfortunately, the message was stuck on one of our phone options for several hours this morning.
“We obviously do not support the sentiments of this message and apologies to anyone that has been caught out by the rogue message.
“We are working with BT and the IT department to have it removed although we do believe it has given a moment of light relief to many of our patients and staff and has shown us that we don’t always get it right.”
Luckily, most people on social media have seen the funny side and reassured staff at the NHS Shetland surgery.
One woman wrote: “But isn’t laughter the best medicine?!”