to be fuming (NHS appointment related)

[MESSING2]

Received a letter confirming an appointment for DD at a specialist clinic. We can't make the date (early next year) as we're on holiday, so called the central bookings number given to reschedule. Told that there are currently no earlier appointments as far as she can see (she calls over her colleague to look at the database or whatever it is and check this for her) but says I can try to speak to the clinic directly as they may have some availability.

She puts me through to another number, so I explain the situation again and am put through somewhere else because apparently they aren't the people I need to speak to. Get put through to someone else, and explain the situation again. Conversation goes as follow:

NHS Lady: Did you just speak to my colleague?
Me: Yes, possibly - I have just spoken to a few people.
NHS Lady: Didn't my colleague just tell you that there are no available appointments before the one you were given?
Me: Yes, but..
NHS Lady: Well, there are no appointments, as she said to you before. I checked for her and there's nothing.
Me: OK, but your colleague said I could try asking the clinic directly.
NHS Lady: No - that doesn't work. All the bookings are done through us.
Me: Oh, right. Thanks anyway. Bye.

She was really quite abrupt and unpleasant in her tone, and it felt like I was being told off for being pushy/not understanding what they were saying. There was no apology or anything.

Is there any point making a complaint? Or do I just suck it up. I appreciate they are busy/stressed and have to deal with a load of crap every day. But this isn't really on, is it?

I can see why you're annoyed if someone was offhand with you if you were only following another persons suggestions but I wouldn't get worked up over it. She probably just got the wrong end of the stick. These things happen.

My understanding is that everything is done via a central booking system. Sometimes nurses make the appointment for me via the system but it is still all centralised and I have the impression that they phone the central bookings number rather than making the appointment themselves on the computer. I have had phone calls from the hospital offering my children appointments in the past but it is usually the day before the appointment because someone has cancelled their child's appointment.

the NHS appointment system is spectacularly bad. Getting DS assessed for ASD and having waited months for initial appointment, get it. Told there will be a follow up in 6 months. Rang to chase it up at 6 months and told they were behind. 3 months later get a letter 2 weeks out of date saying we missed an appointment which we knew nothing about. DH rang and insisted that they find us an appointment ASAP and that his full assessment be booked in at that appointment and the date given to us while he stood there. That was two weeks ago. The assessment is in 10 days and the letter confirming it hasn't yet arrived - nor have they contacted DS's school SenCo which they said they would. I imagine the thousands of missed appointments they complain about costing them £££ is at least 50% due to crap communication on their part and this insistence on giving you an appointment instead of negotiating a mutually convenient time in the first place. Especially when it comes to the DCs I will be as pushy as I damn well can to get through the bonkers system and get the treatment required.

Make a complaint.

I had an op in the summer, once open they couldn't operate because of what they found so they woke me up and said I needed to see specialist X.

They sent for an appointment with Dr X when it arrived it was with DrY.

I attended Dr Y's clinic and was told there is nothing I can do you need to see Dr X. I am a cover teacher so if I don't work I don't get paid. Also I was working 40 miles from the hospital so couldn't go in before or after to work a partial day.
So they made an appointment with Dr X but when it arrived it was for Dr Z so I complained, they made me an appointment with Dr Y but made me feel shit because he 'mainly deals with cancer patients, but you don't have cancer', then another letter arrived cancelling my appointment with Dr X and sending me back to Dr Y.

So I put a complaint in writing, I was phoned and given an appointment with Dr X. Notes have been put on the system that the appointment must not be changed.

Then yesterday I received the official written response, they are looking in to the booking system so that it doesn't happen again with me or another patient. They are also reimbursing me 1 day's pay and the cost of travel to the hospital for the wasted appointment.

And have given me the address to write to if I am not satisfied.

i dont think you should complain. Who would have her job?

Did you ask for a later appointment? that might be more feasible. Or a short notice appointment.

Ring her again OP, I dare you

Yes go ahead and complain and possibly lose the woman her job? What is the point, why would you want to do that to someone just because you don't like her attitude or tone on this one occasion. You have no idea what goes on in that dept or what is going on that woman's life. Is everyone on MN all nicey nicey day in day out, is anyone?

Dont understand why you need to complain?

Point is you did get an appointment but are going on holiday early next year which quite frankly is not really their problem. I'm sure they would love to be going skiing, visiting relatives or off to the caribbean for a sun soaked adventure but I'm sure their wages won't allow it, if they could even get the time off from a job that is probably draining the life out of them as it is.

YABU

Shit like this happens - it's life.
Do you decide to launch a complaint about every little thing that doesn't work out as smoothly as you would like it?

Nobody maliciously decided to make life difficult for you. Just because you thought the woman's tone was abrupt doesn't mean you have a serious right for complaint.

man up op - i think you need to get people's names when you call, and if they do put you through to someone else, you can say Lindsey suggested I speak to you, for example.

I think people are being unfair on the OP. Are we never allowed to have other commitments be they work / holiday or whatever and instead sit by the letterbox waiting for a summons? "Shit like this happens" is the attitude that means nothing changes. I don't think a complaint for abrupt tone is necessary (not worth the time it would take) but I do think the system as a whole with its automated letters, lack of notice taken of individual notes put on etc actually costs the NHS more int he long run that if they employed a few more admin staff. Whether the admin staff are well paid enough to go holiday and therefore the OP should "suck it up" is ridiculous.

Can't make the date you've been given. Book a later date. Simples.

I agree that the problem was you asking for an earlier appointment not just an alternative date. NHS appointments for earlier dates will have been already allocated. You usually only get them available if someone has cancelled just before you phone up and before that date has been reallocated.
You should just have said "sorry but we can't make that date as we're on holiday, when is the next available appointment?".
The clinic receptionist was maybe abrupt because she was in the middle of a busy clinic and probably regularly deals with disgruntled people wanting her to magic up appointments.
I don't get why you didn't ask either of the women when the next appointment was.

I'm sorry fairylight but that is toss.

In the 6 years since I was diagnosed with cancer (and now seem to spend most of my life at the hospital) I have never ever had problems with the NHS booking system in any department. I ma also juggling endless appts for elderly relatives.

To get your kickers in a twizzle over something as banal as this makes me angry and it is yet another excuse for NHS bashing. Try pushing your energies into protecting this great institution that we take for granted instead of moaning about fuck all.

The OP is pissed off because she can't get an appt before she goes on holiday. So she should get one for when she comes back.
It isn't rocket science and it doesn't need threats of formal complaints being thrown around.

I agree Bodhanranbae, mainly, about knickers in a twist and banal problems, but I think op is mainly complaining about the attitude over the phone.

Has anyone spoken to the woman at the NHS to find out OP's attitude and tone on this call?

Most complaints are made by people who adopted said tone in the first place then take umbrage when other person reflects tone back on them, then feel justified to make a complaint.

They love it, it happens all the time. They can not wait to pounce on the schmuck who takes the bait and make a big hoo ha about it all.

Even if you do complain you will probably just be perceived as an unreasonable person who was trying to jump the queue. It's not worth getting worked up over it.

This is why the NHS is in such a mess - the appointments system is an absolute embarrassment but for some reason people are not allowed to criticise it.

The OP wasn't complaining that she couldn't get an earlier appointment - she was complaining that the first admin told her one thing (that she could talk to the clinic direct) and then after a lot of being passed from pillar to post she was rudely told something different. I wouldn't actually complain about it, but it IS rude and shouldn't happen as it is a waste of NHS time and OPs.

As a separate issue the NHS booking system is demonstrably crap and should be improved - but that's a different point.

I just started a thread about hospital appointments before I saw this. I brought dd to an appointment this morning, checked in at reception (they even kept my appointment letter, so the proof is there) and waited and eventually got a phone call asking why I hadn't turned up for the appointment even though I was sitting there the whole time.

This is tame compared to what happened here recently.

Had a letter asking me to call to make an appointment for my DS, when I called I was told there were no appointments. So I asked what next and I was told they don't know.
Private is going to cost just under £1k which we don't have. Delay in treatment is risking life long issues, not guaranteed but much higher chances. Excellent.

I can't be bothered to complain because it'll just be brushed off with the old lack of resources card. Fuck sakes

the government is running the NHS down to the ground. lack of resource real issue. the government Want you to Go private.

We've had a few appointments, in various places, where no one has thought to tell the consultant that we're there, Treacle.

CAMHS is the worst. They send out appointments a month ahead. It's a pain if it ends up being at school run time, because we end up having to take DS2 with us to DS1's appointment, as we can't be in both places at once and DS1 is always agitated and needs 2 adults with him at these appointments. We've given up trying to rearrange since I did try to rearrange and was told they'd send an appointment out. Typical of the admin of that service, nothing arrived, so we took both the boys out of school early, for the 3pm appointment and turned up to find that the psychiatrist was surprised to see us then.

This was the appointment after the one when no one told him that we'd arrived.

Oh - the rearranged appointment that we never got the letter for was more than 2 months after the original - so we kept that one, too, since he was on 3 monthly appointments, at the time.

treacle I hope you got an apology.

The same eye clinic I mentioned summoned dd to an appointment once that wasn't even for her: it was for a child with a similar name (note similar, not the same, as it transpired).

When they realised the error (after they had called that child repeatedly and I came forward to wonder if it was my dd) they said "Well, this appointment isn't for you, so you can go now". I had paid to park, taken an afternoon off work (on that particular occasion I was able to) and as dd's actual appointment was due in around six weeks, I refused to budge.

They spoke to the orthoptist who agreed - reluctantly - to see us, then 'failed' dd's sight assessment because she said a picture of a mug was a jug. it looked like a jug to me too ffs

Horribly organised clinic that one. She's been discharged now, on clinical grounds of course, but also after I refused to bring her to an appointment she was summoned to a whole 10 days after her last one.

My dad once got a letter to cancel a hospital appointment which arrived in a taxi 10 minutes before he needed to set off.

Can anyone explain that one?

He dines out on that story