Hospital appointments

Well, the hospital rang me back. This check up, is a preliminary to my scheduled surgery on Monday. Why couldn't they tell you that in the first place. I thought it was a follow up to my stay in the cardiac unit at the beginning if the month. So, I have to have this appointment. I had to cancel my arrangements for today, phone messages, texts and so on, and off we went to catch the bus. By the time we got there, it had taken two hours, what with road works, traffic delays, bus driver changes etc.
I was seen very promptly, and profuse apologies were made. Now at home with a much needed cuppa. ( till the next time)

Another update to last Sat's post. I rang the cardiology unit, as requested, this morning, and what followed was a most peculiar conversation. Yes, I should have been keeping the appointment, scheduled for today!!! The same appointment that the last letter cancelled . Well, I can't, other arrangements have been made. I will have to have another appointment. As I am due to have surgery next Monday, I sincerely hope that I will not be expected to put in an appearance, in cardiology, on that day. If so, perhaps they would like to cut me in half, do what each wants to do, and sort it out. As you can imagine, I am fed up beyond belief at the moment. (My blood pressure is not doing too well, either). ???

Our Health authority has outsourced the sending out of appointment letters. As a result , we never receive a letter. However we do get texts reminding us of appointments we didn’t know we had. When we arrive at the hospital we join the queue of people clutching their mobile phones asking where they are supposed to be. My husband missed an important appointment because no letter had arrived and we were on holiday when the text pinged on his phone.

The hospital phoned and left a message on my mums home phone to say she was coming home.
Only trouble was that nobody was there, as she lives alone.

A few weeks after having a cyst on my bowel treated successfully in hospital with antibiotics, I was told that they wanted to give me a colonoscopy.
I endured the 'starvation', the vile-tasting laxative drinks, the numerous trips to the loo, and the griping stomach pains with as much patience as possible, then presented myself at the hospital. After waiting for over an hour, in my little white gown, the doctor came to me. Apologetically she explained that there had been a mistake. They never gave colonoscopies after bowel cysts because of the slight risk of a perforation. I could therefore get dressed, and go home. I was NOT amused!

I recently had an ultrasound. I only knew about it the Friday before the Monday the U/S was due because the admin left a message on my phone, otherwise I'd not have shown up. Never got the letter, still haven't!

Ffinnochio - Good to read your post. When the NHS runs smoothly like that it’s brilliant.
It’s just sad that it’s not always so efficient.
SpringyChicken - the bank scam you mention shouldn’t be possible.

Grumppa - thank you for making me smile! You couldn’t make it up, reminiscent of ‘Yes. Minster’.
After a successful procedure i was mortified to bed block for a week. My highlighted care package was not in place. A senior nurse rolled her eyes as she explained: ‘Someone didn’t speak to Someone Else’.

Earlier this year I had a very minor op and was told to ring a call a certain person on a specific number at a given time to get the biopsy result. The doctor added: "You will shortly get a letter wirh a different set of instructions; ignore it." I did as the doctor instructed, and it worked!

It seems to be a lack of communication between different departments.

It can’t always be the admin staff at fault. It’s always handy to have back room people to blame, I suppose, when they’re not around to answer back.

Yes, sometimes it's a bit of a shambles. The medical staff do their best but are let down by the clerical side. Letters arrive late or not at all. Important details which are written down and highlighted on the records are ignored. Then one department doesn't communicate with another. If a commercial firm acted like this they'd go out of business. Not good.

A hell of a lot of money is wasted in the NHS by incompetence in admin. It seems like most people have a story to tell. But from what my friend tells me (a nurse), it's the same on the medical side too. It should never be that staff can refuse a shift but then pick it up as bank work for more money.

MissA

Two cases, to add balance.

1. A call to NHS Direct >>> same day appointment at local hospital >>> appointment within a week to see consultant >>> op. booked >>! pre-op. process >>> operation brought forward >>> clinical follow up >>> future appointments made.

2. A call to book a doctor’s visit >>> a chat >>> same day appointment with Nurse Practitioner and email sent to consultant during visit >>>> a phone call a week later from consultant’s secretary to say they’d had a cancellation >>> a successful visit with minor procedure. Follow up in a couple of months.

A faultless NHS experience.

In 2016, the ENT consultant put me on his URGENT list for an op to clear out a blocked sinus. Shortly afterwards, I had appointments for a CT scan and for a pre-op assessment. Then nothing for a good six months when I eventually had the procedure done as a day case, just before Christmas. I asked the consultant what was considered urgent and he blamed the people in the office who make the appointments. Mind you, having seen his handwriting, I have had other ideas about that!

Elrel, I think you have hit the nail on the head. A friend was talking to a consultant eye Dr. She said that in the past, her department had 30 staff, all dismissed and replaced with 3. How can 3 cope with the amount of work previously dealt with by 30?
Re dealing with the bank directly. I had to return my Secure Key for replacement, and was issued with another, and it all went pear shaped from there on. Good news, it is all tickety boo now

Experiences with GP and two hospitals have convinced me that the NHS is choked by its own admin.
Waste and confusion is caused by all these mess ups. It seems that they just haven’t got good enough systems and well trained staff. Thought and expertise are needed not just throwing ever more money away.
All a patient can do is check everything, query everything. and don’t be too patient.
An elderly HCP told me recently that, sadly, today it’s necessary to be pushy, not to trustingly wait as we have done before.

My DH had a finger X-rayed a month ago as it had swollen and was painful. This was done electronically at UCH. He was told that it would take a WEEK to send to the GP'S surgery - why so long? He went to see his GP ten days later - no sign of X-ray or comments. Surely this should be a simple procedure?

The appointments system is dreadful - my GS has on waking epilepsy, he was doing very well on his medication they decided to take him off it and see if he was still having fits. Three weeks later he had a severe fit on waking, so he was put straight back on his tablets. Daughter asked for him to be referred back to his specialist, GP said they would. Daughter then received four letters, all with different appointment dates/times. When she rang she was told to go with the last one which fell in the week we are on holiday (she had told the GP that we were away that week). Daughter rang up the appointments team and they said they would reschedule, in September! Two days later a letter came from the Consultant to say GS had failed to attend his appointment! Needless to say it was one of the earlier three dates daughter had been told to ignore. Back on the phone she went and, after being passed between several operators she was told the September appointment still held and that the issue had been that the original Consultant had retired unexpectedly and there had been issues in transferring his diary over to his replacement. Then a letter arrived saying GD had missed her appointment (with a different Consultant) - we hadn't even had a letter advising that she had been given an appointment! The whole system seems to be in mess.

Auntiflo, I find the best way to sort problems out with many companies is to use the live chat system via their website. I usually get an immediate response and am able to explain the issues quickly to get the problem resolved. I sometimes keep a screen shot of the conversation if I feel there might be further complications. It is much quicker than hanging on in a queue on the phone! I would only call into my bank for anything other then a simple transaction after making an appointment as the counter clerks do not usually have the necessary knowledge or time to do anything complicated. Also by making an appointment, they usually take you to a private area which I prefer.

Good luck with sorting it out.

I've had a lot to do with hospitals over the last six years as I've had bowel cancer and my husband prostate cancer. All through the medical treatment has been first class in every respect. In contrast the Admin dept have been appalling. Wrong information, muddled appointments, surly attitudes on the phone etc etc. In my opinion where the NHS is failing is with the Admin depts not with doctors or nurses etc.

Last year I had a nightmare NHS experience which culminated by me having surgery twice. When I came back after Christmas, I found an appointment letter with a mid-January date - this was for a second post-op check up. Impressed by their promptness, I had to cancel and re-arrange. I then received, by post, a second appt letter identical to the first. I then checked the date - it was for 2019!!!

Private hospitals are sometimes no better when it comes to a mix-up. I had been home for a few days (following orthopaedic surgery), when I had a phone call asking me to come and collect antibiotics “which I needed after my recent gynae procedure”. I explained I hadn’t had a gynae procedure, and she had the wrong person. She insisted she hadn’t! What can you do?

Barmyoldbat. The NHS is stretched to its limits and that applies to the admin side just as much. Not an excuse for the way many of us are treated and comes to mind left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing which went down like a lead balloon when I put this opinion to my local GP surgery following my own experience.