To think this needs fixing (NHS)

[HelenaWaiting]

This morning, my next door neighbour collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Her husband knocked on my door and explained that he was due at another hospital for an outpatients appointment. He gave me all the details and asked would I call. I spent all morning trying to call. There was no response on the direct line. I even got hold of the main switchboard and asked them to put me through - they kept putting me through to A&E. This is not the first time I have encountered this problem.

AIBU to think that the NHS can produce as much patient-blaming missed appointment data as they like, but unless they find a more efficient way of patients contacting them, the issue is never going to be resolved.

No news yet on my neighbour.

My Dad recently got a letter about engaging with a new eye care service due to his glaucoma. He died 11 years ago at the same hospital.

I work in a clinic where all appts are 60-90 mins. We book/confirm the next appointment while the patient is with us. We follow up with a letter. The day before, one of us emails or texts. On the day, we'll call to double check if they are frequent no shows.
And yet still they fail to turn up.

He couldn't use his link because the text said on the day of the appointment to call rather than use the link.

Yes, lots of admin issues. In all departments.

Yes it’s incredibly frustrating when it’s hard to talk to a department. One of the reasons I like the job I do is that nobody has stopped me giving my mobile number out so that people can just call me. But I only see a small caseload for a few weeks at a time. One of the things I do is to help patients contact other services.

If you look at the NHS as a whole, the scale is a bit mind-boggling. Not far off 3 million GP appointments and outpatient appointments every single working day. But I agree that being contactable is hugely underrated. The day they got rid of the actual people who knew everyone and everything on the separate hospital switchboards, and put about 3 of them in a basement office to do all the calls and bleeps for the Trust with an automated operator that you talk to first, I cried.

But someone will have got huge plaudits for that change because it cut the non-front-line workforce.

They never answer the bloody phone. I had been referred to the hospital by my dentist recently, they wanted some full head x rays done pending a wisdom tooth extraction. The dentist gave me the number for the x ray department and told me to call and make an appointment, I tried for over a week at various times of the day and not once did they answer. I ended up emailing the local NHS Trust with a complaint about it and when they asked how I wanted it resolved I said just make the appointment for me and send me a letter to say when it is, which they did. Ridiculous that I had to go down the complaint route in the first place though.

As they say too many managers no actual staff, and too many employees who are always off sick, that should be moved to other jobs.