I’m not sure much has happened, but I have letters to write, and when I have letters to write I tend to veer into procrastination rather than jump into action.
If you recall my previous misadventures with Urology, you may recall that I went in for a minor operation, then went in for a second, which they cancelled on the grounds I hadn’t been in for the pre-operation check. I had, I had a witness to that effect, but they hadn’t processed it despite the fact that I was actually in hospital at the time. I was in hospital at the time due to the consequences of the first operation, which had not gone to plan. They even went so far as to accuse me of lying.
Next time they tried to admit me they couldn’t find a bed, a fact they only discovered after I had waited for three hours in my dressing gown.
I complained, but fell victim to the delaying tactics of the NHS complaints system. This time I am getting off the mark quicker and they will have the first complaint tomorrow, before they have had time to prepare. There seems little point in being reasonable and patient about it when they will do their best to do nothing about it.
However, as they keep pointing out, a missed hospital outpatient appointment costs £120, and the total is approximately £1 billion a year. It’s my duty to help them cut this cost by stopping them messing up again. I expect they will be grateful for my input, because doctors always love it when you correct them.
I am going to have to be careful how I phrase things as I’m hungry, and this never improves my mood. All this dieting might be good for my waist and health but it’s no good for anyone else I have to deal with.
Robin at Clumber, Nottinghamshire
Good luck with the letter. It might also help to send a letter to your MP and/or PM to point out how the system is not running as it should. Sounds like a funding/administrative issue with inadequate resources not deployed properly.
We will never have an adequately funded service because we always try to do too much healthcare with the money available. However, good communication will save money so I might start a small campaign. My MP, mind you, is not very effective.
Advocate for any positive change you can.
I will. Better communication will save money.
Good luck with the letter and the complaint.
It’s in the post, which is a start. I often humph and threaten and then forget it, but this time I am properly annoyed. 🙂
I hope that you get a result.
If it just makes one person communicate more clearly it will be worth it. I hold out little hope . . .
There is always a first time.
I don’t know how it is possible to make a mess out of a simple procedure like booking an appointment.
I stick with the calm, and often write intelligent trufthful repy emails, and then wipe them out unsent, since it seems to do as much or as little good as trying to engage, and it is gratifying to have written it, however futily. Good luck with yours–
I need to have it recorded that it was their error, not mine, and I need some action rather than another three months of waiting, so I have decided on forceful and polite as my first approach. 🙂
Good luck with it. It might even work!
It’s possible. I really do it just to prove I’m alive rather than with any hope of changing things. 🙂
Kick a few legs as we go into that good night–
🙂 My new life’s work.
My cat is already an expert and could give you tips if needed–
🙂
Good luck! What a mess.
🙂 Not the first mess they have made.