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"No closer to getting an appointment"

About: Lauriston Building / Dermatology

(as a service user),

Absolutely appalled that after being referred urgently by GP with a suspected malignant melanoma. I am no closer to getting an appointment 8 months on, and have been told it will be a year. 

This delay could make the difference between a resectable lesion and stage 4 metastatic disease. 

Furthermore, within a few days of phoning to chase the appointment I was sent a text message linked to an online form to complete if I still wanted the appointment! 

If I had just swiped away this unsolicited text, as I almost did, I would have been put off the list without knowing. 

I feel this is a cynical and disgusting tactic to get people in genuine clinical need of care, who have been referred by their GP, off the list. 

Requiring people to fill in online forms to keep their place on the list is likely to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable people, including elderly, disabled or non-english speaking individuals who may not have the understanding or the technology to jump through such unreasonable hoops, and those on a low income who may not have reliable internet access to respond in time. 

In my view, this is shameful behaviour and needs to be called out. 

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Responses

Response from Lauriston Building - NHS Lothian 3 months ago
Submitted on 03/03/2025 at 10:44
Published on Care Opinion at 10:44


We are sorry to hear that you have experienced issues with our service. Your feedback is very important to us. To allow us to investigate your concern thoroughly, we kindly direct you to our Patient Experience Team at, LOTH.feedback@nhs.scot This will enable us to look into your case and provide a direct response regarding the issue you have highlighted.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Sincerely,

NHSL Lothian Dermatology Department

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