"Appalling treatment of autistic patient (urology)"

Due to all hospitals around me being inept, I had read good reports of the service at Warwick and opted to get referred here to urology in the hope that for once, the NHS would provide for the support needs for me as an autistic patient. Sadly, Warwick proved they are just as bad as the rest.

Not wishing to make the 90 mile journey for an early morning appointment, I opted to drive down the day before and stay in a hotel so I could ensure I would be not stressed and fully prepared for my appointment at 10.

I arrived at the hospital outpatients at about 9.30am and booked in at reception and was sent to wait in a main waiting area which I did not want to do as I had requested a reasonable adjustment to wait in a private room as I get anxious in main waiting rooms as they often get busy and people are buzzing around everywhere.

After being left for 20 minutes like this, I was eventually spoken to and offered a private room to wait in.

Just before 10am, the lady came back to the room and told me that my appointment would be delayed by at least an hour due to the urology consultant being needed in theatre. This was unexpected for me as I was not informed prior to booking this appointment that the urologist would be on call on the the day of the appointment and call outs are something that frequently happen. If I had access to this information prior to making my appointment, I would not have risked this journey and all the stress it entailed.

I was asked if I was happy to wait an hour or so and I was not able to due to this sudden and unexpected change being challenging for me to deal with and eliciting intense emotions that I have dysregulation of.

As a direct result of poor, short sighted management and not being given adequate or accurate information, I had no option but to leave and go home without being seen for a condition that I had been distressed with for some time.

The lack of understanding of autism or any sort of adequate training about autism from this hospital Trust and how it can affect patients is appalling and not acceptable. It is also potentially discriminatory. This hospital is not inclusive, does not demonstrate support or understanding for people from diverse backgrounds and fails in equality metrics.

Avoid this hospital if you want to have your needs met as a person with impairments.