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"Maxillofacial surgery"

About: St John's Hospital / Oral Maxillofacial surgery

(as the patient),

I have been on the waiting list since 2020. Last year inApril l was invited gor consultation and was informed it will be 'weeks' but never heard anything until more than a year letter , this July l was given a date for July 10. Unfortunately a day before the surgery phoned to cancel the surgery.  She did not have any concrete reason to why other than due to 'my medical information'.

I later received 2 letters, sent to my previous address,  one telling me I had been added  to the waiting list, followed by another asking me if l felt l still needed the surgery? The reason being they were very keen to shorten their waiting lists.

Unfortunately I got the letters much later as they had gone to my previous address- I changed my address at my gp as well as dental practice.  

I rang St John's and I wanted to explain what had transpired but the professional wouldn't let me and  accused me of raising my voice. I had only said 1 sentence and l assured her that was my normal voice but she didn't believe me and told me she was going to hang up and she did.

I left another message asking to speak to someone else and never got a response. 

If this was my first encounter with NHS I would be very appalled.  However,  I  have dealt with many other professionals including my own dentist who has been great.

This is the worst experience I have ever received from a medical professional and one I will never forget.

To make matters worse,the calls go through her so I can't speak to anyone else.

I have resorted to speaking to my dentist and she tried finding out why my surgery was cancelled but it seems nobody knows.

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Responses

Response from Claire Withnell, Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian 9 months ago
Claire Withnell
Patient Experience Officer, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian
Submitted on 22/08/2023 at 10:56
Published on Care Opinion at 10:56


picture of Claire Withnell

Dear Jolene77,

My name is Claire and I work for the Patient Experience Team at NHS Lothian. Firstly let me thank you for sharing your feedback with us on Care Opinion.

I was sorry to read that you have experienced such issues with the letters you have received, the communication over the telephone and your cancelled surgery. As you stated, this has left you feeling disregarded and disrespected and I am sorry you have been left feeling like this. This is not how we would expect anyone who has reason to use our services to feel.

We would appreciate an opportunity to investigate the issues raised and provide you with a response. May I please ask you to contact the Patient Experience Team, either by email at feedback@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk or by telephone 0131 536 3370 (lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 2pm), to provide further details and it would also be helpful if you could make reference to this story on Care Opinion. This will allow us to look into your situation further.

Kind regards,

Claire

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