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Booked appointment

Posted By lynpf45

"Booked appointment"

About: East Surrey Hospital / Radiology

(as the patient),

I was left a voice mail message asking me to ring the hospital and an extension number was left, nothing else. This was on the morning of my appointment.

I contacted the hospital straight away as I was waiting for an appointment. I was told I had an appointment booked for me on the same day. I informed the member of staff that I would not be able to make the appointment, and arranged another appointment for the following week.

This was quiet a worrying time for me as I have a lump in my throat which is growing and I was having a scan under the TWR. When I arrived home later that day an appointment was waiting for me, which was made the Thursday  before the appointment on the Monday, and sent in the post, which I presumed was posted on the Friday.

I ask the question why I was not phoned to see if I could make such a short notice appointment, or emailed. I have heard this is happening a lot in the hospital, emails cost nothing and phone calls minimal compared to the cost of paper envelopes and postage and printing the letter. Plus I believe you would have less cancelled appointments and happier patients. 

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Responses

Response from Diane Mcfeeters, Operations Manager, Diagnostic Imaging, Surrey & Sussex Healthcare Trust 6 months ago
Diane Mcfeeters
Operations Manager, Diagnostic Imaging,
Surrey & Sussex Healthcare Trust

Submitted on 06/10/2023 at 22:15
Published on Care Opinion at 22:15

Dear lynpf45,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us to let us know about your experience with an Ultrasound booking.

The phone call you received was to double-check you would be able to attend that day; this is routinely done when appointments appear as 'unconfirmed' in our diary to try to minimize unused appointment slots.

I am sorry the appointment came at too short notice for you to be able to attend and I do agree there is some slippage in the system to allow this to happen. We do call patients for 'short notice appointments' in advance but we may be unable to leave a message due to patient confidentiality concerns.

In the very near future, we will be exploring a range of different approaches to improve our booking efficiency, provide better notice for patients and to offer a wider range of appointment dates to patients so they can select one that suits them best. We will also be using the latest technology to allow patients to confirm their appointments and also a text reminder service

With TWR referrals, we acknowledge this is a very worrying time for patients but please be reassured, that the booking team's focus is to fit all appointments in the required timescale.

Please contact us at 01737 768511 EXT 7186/1440 so we can ensure your appointment is arranged as soon as possible

Diane McFeeters

Lead Operations Manager

Diagnostic Imaging department

East Surrey hospital

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