Text size

Theme

Language

"Trying to rearrange an appointment"

About: Lauriston Building / Orthopaedic

(as the patient),

Having realised that an appointment at orthopaedic dept in Edinburgh was at Lauriston buildings instead of Royal infirmary Edinburgh I tried to arrange to cancel this appointment because I would not be able to get there on time because of transport difficulties and the time I would need to leave my elderly mother, for whom I care, on her own.

I phoned the number provided on my appointment letter for Lothian health and waited in a queue for 45 minutes after which time I ended the call intending to try again .

Several hours later in the afternoon I again tried to contact this number and was told again that there was a queue for 40 minutes . I just do not have the time and patience to do this and again ended the call.

I then phoned the consultant’s secretary at the hospital to explain my situation but was unable to speak to them, however a message was left and a very understanding and helpful member of staff phoned me back within 5 minutes and cancelled the appointment .

I was so frustrated and annoyed with being expected  to wait the time mentioned earlier to cancel an appointment or rearrange an appointment. 

I expect it will be another six months of suffering before I receive a new appointment . Very disappointed.

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Wendy Parkinson, Clinical Service Manager, Orthopaedics & Major Trauma, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian 3 weeks ago
Wendy Parkinson
Clinical Service Manager, Orthopaedics & Major Trauma, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh,
NHS Lothian
Submitted on 27/10/2025 at 17:58
Published on Care Opinion at 18:31


Thank you for your feedback and we recognise due to the increase in calls into the department that the call wait time has unfortunately also risen, we have recognised this and have taken steps to resolve these issues including taking on additional staff who are training to help aid this issue.

We are also looking at options in relation to new telephone system which we hope might be able to help alleviate the problem and are exploring other options. All bookings for Outpatients are managed by Woodburn House rather than the Service.

I can only apologise this was not picked up in a timely manner.

Kind Regards

Wendy

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k