"The clinical care was exceptional, ..."

What I liked

The clinical care was exceptional, from the orderlies to the surgeon. Everyone was efficient, polite, highly competent and extremely caring in their conduct. It is a crying shame that their excellent work was horribly undermined by the lack of interest and competence shown by admin staff after my surgery.

What could be improved

I needed to re-schedule my first follow-up appointment as I had moved to Birmingham and had to travel back to Leeds. However, this was not processed so I was recorded as a DNA for my original appointment and only found out when I arrived for my new appointment time - having taken a day off work. There was no new slot available and my trip was wasted. I asked to be contacted via my mobile phone (as they had done to remind me of my pre-op consultation) to reschedule, but this never happened. Despite contacting the hospital using the information posted on their website and even writing I have never heard anything more from the hospital after months of waiting. I am left with the distinct impression that the high skill levels of the clinical staff is not matched by their administrative support team. The slickness of the pre-op admin suggests that the focus is on ensuring patients come in to receive the treatment which the hospital will be paid for.

Anything else?

I work in the NHS so I know the frustration caused by DNAs and it is galling to think somebody missed out on using my appointment slot because of administrative incompetence. That also resulted in wasted time for the surgeon and me.