"This post-Covid way or working does not meet my needs"

I have a health condition since January 2020. I visited my GP to report symptoms. Despite ongoing treatment for the last five years, I have never had a face to face appointment with either the consultant or nurses from the department.

I undergo regular blood tests with are followed up a few days later with a phone call session. Telephone appointment is the only offering.

There is no contact information included on the department’s appointment letter. There is no way to contact the department to discuss a concern or rearrange an appointment. It is my understanding that some staff are issued with work phones and devices.

The department’s appointment letter states a time with ‘within an hour of this time’.  This is disrespectful of my time. I can rearrange my day to meet this criteria and the call happens out with this hour.

Who is monitoring this post Covid way of working? For me as a user, this system does not meet my needs.

I am being asked to make decisions on intrusive and life changing treatment based only on the interpretation of quantitative data and people’s views. There has been no direct observation or examination. I am asked about a symptom that I have never had and this would be visible at a face to face appointment.

Concerns that I have had, are ‘brushed off’ with comments like ‘it’s just your age’ or ‘that happens to everyone over Christmas’ - not helpful at all. There seems to be no regard for the negative impact that long term medication is having on me.

I have deliberately not named the department because this needs investigating across the whole service. It is my understanding that health board staff decide on when to work from home and rearranging working hours to a compressed week to suit themselves and NOT to best meet the needs of the service.

I would like to see the following changes:

-Specific contact information, email and telephone numbers (direct and departmental) included on appointment letters

-Patients offered the choice of face to face, telephone and video conferencing appointments

-Patients provided with clear details of when clinics operate