"Unclear directions"

I arrived on time at around 12:05, which was 10 minutes early.

I approached the reception at the entrance of the children’s hospital and showed a staff member the text message confirming my appointment. They directed us to go to 1B.

My wife, our baby (in the car seat), and I went to 1B. When we arrived, there was a person at the reception desk. I showed them the text message, and asked us to wait. I politely requested that they check the message to make sure we were in the correct place, as we did not want to miss our appointment.

They looked at the message and said they were not 100% sure that it was the right place, and that they needed to confirm with another staff member. They went to look for one, and when they came, they told us to go back to the ground floor. They were not sure which department or clinic we needed, only that we should go to the ground floor.

When we returned to the ground floor, there were no staff members around. The only help we could get was from the first staff member at reception we saw. We went back to them, showed the text message again, and explained what happened at 1B. They told us once more to go back to 1B and insisted that it was the correct location.

I asked them to call 1B to confirm, but said they did not have a contact number for them, which was quite shocking and very frustrating.

At this point, my wife, my child, and I were stuck in the hospital with no direction and no proper assistance.

We left the reception area and spoke to some parents with their children. Thankfully, one parent pointed us in the right direction, and it was a huge relief.

I want to highlight this because in an emergency, this kind of confusion could lead to a much worse situation.

Suggestions for improvement:

1. Send clear and detailed messages to patients, including directions and the correct clinic or department name.

2. Provide proper training for staff and conduct monthly refresher tests—especially for reception. In our case, they did not know where we needed to go.

3. Ensure reception has access to direct phone numbers for all departments so they can confirm before directing patients.

4. Overall, there is definitely room for improvement in communication and patient guidance.

** Appointment detail ***

Sat 22/11/25 12:15 Paediatric Surgery, ANP Docherty

Outpatient Department Ground Floor Royal Hospital for Children

1345 Govan Road, Govan G51 4TF

Guidelines; Both parents must attend the clinic, immunisations can't take place 72 hrs before appt and your child must be fit to attend.