"Access to Sexual Health services"

I work in healthcare so it pains me to complain, knowing the pressure everyone is under but the service I've received has been truly shocking.

I needed my IUD replaced.  I'm menopausal and really suffering.  My IUD was installed 20 years ago to help with heavy bleeding.  My previous experiences, which were elsewhere in Scotland, were amazing.  I assumed the standard of service in Tayside would be the same. 

I called to book an appointment in May (the IUD needed replaced in July and I know things are busy) and was curtly told that now it was advised that the IUD should be changed after 6 years and not after 5, as I was previously advised.  I was told I would have to be referred through my GP if I needed it changed before the 6 years.  I struggled on for a couple of months, put off by the attitude of the staff member I spoke to but, eventually, the heavy bleeding was getting worse (as it usually does towards the end of my IUD's life cycle) and my menopause symptoms were causing issues and, I believe they are exacerbating my chronic illness, so I called to double check what had to happen for me to be referred. 

I had to wait a few weeks to speak to my GP but they were very helpful and did the referral for me.  The staff member I spoke to just before this had said that waiting times were around 3 weeks for IUD replacement at that time.  Great, I thought, that's it sorted.  A few weeks passed and I didn't hear anything from the sexual health clinic so I called and was told that it was too early for them to have got to my referral and to wait.  The staff member I spoke to at that time didn't even check if my referral had been received, just telling me it wasn't on their system yet. 

A few weeks pass and I had another GP appointment.  My GP wanted to put me on HRT but this involved getting my IUD changed.  My GP was concerned that I'd still not heard anything from the sexual health service so wrote to them.  I called later that day to enquire where I was on their waiting list and I ended up having to wait on a manager calling me back.  I asked for them to call after a given time as I was at work until then, but the call was half an hour before that.  When I finally got a hold of the manager, I was told that the first time they'd heard from my GP was that day.  I said that I'd been in contact in May and in July and was accused of lying.  Said there was nothing on the system about me calling.  Kept repeating that they didn't who I had spoken to, but it wasn't them. 

I was very upset at this point, saying that I had called the number on their website and went through their screening questions and spoke to a nurse twice.  No, I didn't call them, I was wrong.  I was asked to provide proof that I'd called and I offered to e-mail my mobile phone bills from May and July, which would show the number, the time of the call and duration.  I asked for an e-mail address to send this information to and was told that they couldn't give out the practice e-mail as it was only for professionals.  I asked how I was supposed to provide proof and they said I should just call back with it.  I was told that my GP had not referred me to the sexual health service but instead had sent the referral to gynaecology.  Suggested that speak to their waiting list manager so I called there. 

Gynaecology had my referral but said the waiting list was very long and it would probably be quicker to get my IUD changed through the sexual health service.  I called the sexual health service back and they became angry, telling me that the other waiting list manager had no right telling me that as they didn't know how long their waiting list was.  Eventually, they asked if I was still at an address in Dundee (at this point another service user's address was mistakenly given out to me) and I told her that I'd never lived in Dundee.  It turned out that they were looking at the wrong file all along.  When the right file was opened, they could then see that I did contact them on the dates I'd said previously.  So I was accused of lying about contacting the service without even checking that they had the right patient's information.  At this point, I was sitting in my car in a car park having just finished work, crying. 

At that point, clearly realising their mistake, they became super nice and helpful.  Decided to make it a priority to get me an answer about my situation and called the clinician to ask if I could be seen at the sexual health service.  Unsurprisingly, the clinician said that since gynaecology had now accepted my referral, I would need to be seen by them.  Now, during this, I was told my GP had referred to the wrong service but I later discovered that the referral had been properly made but it was the sexual health service that had passed on the referral to gynaecology! During this entire debacle, I was trying to be seen in Perth since I have chronic fatigue and really struggle with physical exertion, stress and driving for any length of time.  I ended up with an appointment for an IUD replacement at Ninewells (not through gynaecology).  I am beyond angry at the way I've been treated and the stress of this has caused me to "crash" several times.