To be absolutely fuming over consultants secretary

[twiddlingthumbs69]

My DH has a medical problem which will need surgery. As the NHS is clogged up we decided to go private.
Everything now hinges on consultants secretary making the necessary arrangements.
She is absolutely useless.
The consultant thought the op was booked for the 12/4. It isn't, she hasn't booked it.
I've left 11 voicemails, sent 6 emails to her in the space of 2 weeks.
Spoken to her once.
Strangely enough, I did complain to the hospital when she hadn't booked the MRI (I had to do it) and within an hour she had called me.
My DH is going downhill and I'm totally fed up with trying to contact her now, I've lost all faith in her.
Shall I escalate the problem to the hospital tomorrow?
As the surgery is complicated, another piece of equipment is having to be bought in, again, she will have to organise this.
The Consultant actually told us that she is useless and he's in the process of hiring someone else.
This op is costing well over £10k so do you think it's acceptable for me to start kicking up a fuss now?

Yes

Yes, go to her superior and list all of the nonsense she's caused - then ask that the date is freed up for your DH on 12/4 - good luck

Strangely, I've literally just received an email from her, no useful information, just basically keeping me at bay.
Will leave it until mid morning tomorrow then start creating a nuisance of myself

Is there another consultant you can use that has a different secretary?

@Timeforachocolate unfortunately we're too far along the process now and the procedure he's having is only able to be performed by a handful of surgeons in the country. Otherwise, would definitely have swapped

i bet the consultant could get it booked if he really wanted to (either by asking a favour of a colleague's secretary or perhaps even add it to the list himself). Is the whole department that dysfunctional or just the secretary/cons relationship?

Bloody appalling.

We have private cover and I've dealt with 4 different consultants secretaries over the last 18 months.

To a person they have been extraordinarily efficient and pleasant to deal with.

I would be very unhappy with what you are describing.

@Greybeardy no, it's just her. The consultant is well aware she's useless. Annoys me intensely that she has a job she either can't do or just can't be bothered when there are other people out there who would love her job.

@Droolylabradors it's quite extraordinary. I've never had problems like this previously. One of the reasons we are going private is the swiftness and also a point of contact.
She has failed totally on both those fronts. And don't get me started on the one email she has sent me! No grammar, punctuation and full of spelling mistakes

Oh good grief.

I'd suggest going to a manager of the private hospital for results.

But frankly, the consultant saying 'oh yes she's useless' is enraging. They're her manager! It's down to them!

She's also a secretary for a Neurologist and Orthopedic Surgeon. God help those poor patients

the way that he is talking about her suggests he may be part of the problem though - it's unprofessional (even if it's true). She wouldn't be the first 'useless' secretary to actually just be working for a 'difficult' character/ in a job where they've not had adequate training/ being stretched between multiple departments/consultants (saying this as a doctor who has also worked as a medical secretary). Perhaps worth keeping an open mind...

@Greybeardy actually you may have a point. I hadn't looked at it like that. I know that NHS secretaries get stretched to breaking point but hadn't considered the private sector. He does seem to change secretaries quite frequently (insider knowledge) so maybe it is him. I agree, I was surprised when he described her as useless. Thanks for your point of view x

no probs - hope it's all sorted soon.

You should but there is no guarantee.

If this doesn't work, I would go somewhere else.