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Could have been avoided

Posted By Loch Ordie

"Could have been avoided"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Cardiology

(as the patient),

The check-up went fine.  Friendly competent staff.  In and out in a 'jiffy'.  However I was sent an appointment letter in early January with one week's notice to attend the cardiology clinic.  I thought this was unusual as my yearly is normally around June.  So, I telephoned the help/information number on the correspondence and was told that she (the person answering the phone) was unsure why the appointment had been made, but that there must be a valid reason and was to attend.  On attending I was met with blank looks and informed that they did not know why the appointment was made!  The NHS professional was embarrassed and apologised for my inconvenience.

So, not the end of the world but something that could have been avoided with a little more proactive investigation when I queried the appointment.

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Responses

Response from Catherine Labinjoh, Consultant Cardiologist & Clinical Lead for Cardiology, Cardiology, NHS Forth Valley 5 years ago
Catherine Labinjoh
Consultant Cardiologist & Clinical Lead for Cardiology, Cardiology,
NHS Forth Valley

Hospital doctor, specialising in Heart Disease

Submitted on 26/06/2018 at 23:16
Published on Care Opinion on 27/06/2018 at 11:19

picture of Catherine Labinjoh

Dear Loch Ordie

Thanks for getting in touch with us through Care Opinion. It sounds as though we've made a bit of a mess of your outpatient appointment this time around despite your best efforts to help us! I am really sorry for the inconvenience this early appointment must have caused you. Our appointment system, which is easily accessed by clerical staff, does allow for notes to be made when appointments are moved or cancelled but it doesn't sound as though there was any infomation available to staff this time around. I can understand why they might have assumed, therefore, that the change had been made for good reason. But you are right that a bit more exploration at the time might have been helpful.

It doesn't sound as though the clinical records were any more helpful in explaining this circumstance which I am pleased to say is fairly unusual. But I would be happy to do a bit more digging on your behalf and that way I might uncover something that would let us avoid a repetition of the same in the future. If you'd like to get in touch with me please contact me through my secretary Mrs Sharon Mason on 01324 566832.

Once again, many thanks for your feedback.

Catherine

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