"Great care, poor appointment system"

My 89 year old mother has been attending William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, for regular injections into her spine. The clinical team has provided an excellent service.

However, the appointment system is archaic. The clinic still runs a block booking system, so every patient is required to turn up at the clinic at the same time, and are then seen according to a system that is unclear to patients. For example, my mother was told to attend the clinic at 12 pm. She duly turned up at 11.30 am, and was the first person to arrive. She had to wait over three hours before she was seen.

The appointment system is inconvenient to patients and carers - my sister took my mother to the clinic, and she had to wait nearly five hours before she could take my mother home.