Hospital won’t rebook cancelled appointment, but I can’t complain

@whatareyouwaitingforr but if you have the GHIC or EHIC whatever it is now called, then surely you could access emergency care? You just may not be able to go straight to private and as I said your policy may well require you to use the GHIC first anyway - suggest you read the policy terms and conditions in detail to ensure it covers what you think it does. There was a case recently where a family had raised a gofundme for a relative who had travel insurance and was taken to a private hospital and her insurance required her to use the non-private one so insurers were not paying out. Cheapest is not always the best unfortunately.

That should be your starting point.
You're anticipating a problem that may not even occur.

You've not got quotes from what you've said- just guess work?

And as for the rest, just turn up where the appts are booked and speak to them.
Asking what to do here is wasting time and not achieving anything.

Also to add I work in the NHS and wouldn't judge a colleague for complaining, at all! We encourage people to complain when there has been a genuine concern. In your case there absolutely is.

You work in a hospital and don’t know where to turn??? How do you think the rest of us feel.

Ask advice from your manager, your colleagues, take yourself over to the department.

Make an internal call which may be attended to more urgently.
Be proactive and just walk over to the department.

If they’ve just been moved they may be in disarray.

Sorry, haven't read the full thread but I would complain - you are not being difficult.
The cancellation is fine, but the waiting time, lack of communication, failure to rebook you and unavailability to contact them is completely unacceptable. This is not your fault or you being "difficult", I would simply raise a complaint due to the above failures. If anyone questions it, then you can simply explain that it was cancelled, you were not communicated with and experienced huge delays through no fault of your own with no response when you contacted them, so you had no choice.

Perfectly reasonable and unless you value your colleagues opinions over your own health, you need to speak up and get something done. Otherwise as you say, you're the only one that will suffer.

What is the difference in the quotes you've had if you are

-waiting for a scan/ full diagnosis
-waiting for surgery
-excluding cover for your knee, hip whatever

This isn't about getting well so you can go on holiday , it's all about getting the lowest cost insurance.

Go off site and see them?

This

@whatareyouwaitingforr do you have an annual travel policy or are you waiting to purchase insurance (haven't read the full thread). If you have an annual policy you have an obligation to declare whether or not you are awaiting for a diagnosis/further tests etc. I have been in that position and simply rang the insurers and spoke to the screening team. My condition was excluded until I received the results of my scan but all other conditions were included. I decided that the risk of something serious happening was minimal so took the holidays we had booked anyway. If you are going to Europe as a presumably UK resident then you can apply for an EHIC card which will give you the same level of cover in EU countries as citizens of that country have. There may well be a condition in your travel policy that requires you to use that first anyway rather than going straight for private treatment. And by the way I do understand how travel insurance works having been in the insurance industry for 40+ years.

I have never seen it marked in clinical notes either, and I know for certain I have seen the clinical notes of complainers because I have helped them to complain! and no, to my knowledge, there is not a "code" that gets added to the notes of someone who has complained.

PALS ia not only for complaints. Its Patient Advice and Liaison. Yes they are where you can complain and get help but they are also the department where you can go to to get assistance and information. They will of course talk to departments on your behalf but please don't assume that it always starts with or ends up with a complaint.

Can you not just go over there? But if its any reassurance we have no idea who's put in pals complaints or not (obviously unless it's against the Dr currently treating you and will continue to as they'd have to have replied).

As an anaesthetist I've never seen it once in a patients notes. And even if it was seen I'd just be in agreement with you doing so as that sounds like a v stupid system

It sounds crazy but send the booking team an actual letter rather than email/phonecalls. For some reason this seems to work better in my experience as it is im someone's hands and they cannot think that someone else is dealing with it.

International comparative data demonstrates otherwise.

Oh so you think I'm lying.

I think you're the one who's confused.

I can assure you it is how it works. There are special policies for people with cancer and there are some people who don't take out insurance as they know they could get back to the UK if needed at their own expense.

Orthopaedic conditions are not exactly high risk unless you're doing dangerous sports. The cover for an existing condition should not be that different whether you're waiting for an op or waiting for a scan.

Why is complaining bad behaviour, especially in a case like this one?

OP said in original post

Is there anything I can do besides PALS?

If what you said is true, you escalate until you get to CQC complaints. PALS is the first line of fobbing off. After that, you get action.

Speaking as an orthopedic specialist physio, I'm going to definitively agree with what others have said: walk in to the department. Ask the receptionist nicely to sort it out. If they won't, ask to speak to the lead clinician on site - they will. That doesn't look like trouble making, it's a reasonable and normal thing which people sometimes do when they can't get a result by emailing or calling for whatever reason. You shouldn't need to, but it happens. And putting a PALS complaint in is also a normal and reasonable thing to do.