I have felt consistently let-down by this service since I was referred to them.
I appreciate that the unacceptably long waiting times are due to oversubscription and underfunding, but there is also a serious issue with lack of communication within the service, leading (in my experience) to frequent mistakes being made - such as, but not limited to, appointments being missed out, appointment bookings being repeated unnecessarily, miscommunication and lack of communication.
It is often impossible to contact the service via telephone. My experience was that the reception staff were unable/unwilling to discuss patient details with patients, however as a patient I was unable to contact doctors or nurses via the phone. My emails frequently went ignored. Letters which should always have a copy sent to the patient were often not sent to the patient. I've been told I have to specifically ask for a copy of the letter about my progress each time. I am frequently not updated about their progress and I've found it difficult to get information about my own medical records.
When I initially started being seen by the GIC, it took repeated nagging to get them to change my title to my correct title, which is really unacceptable considering the nature of the clinic.
More than one doctor has shown lack of awareness of clinical and surgical procedures. I've been told on numerous occasions 'I don't know' or flat-out misinformation about surgical procedures I'm hopefully going to be undergoing in the future. I've also been told that I'm 'unusual' for asking perfectly legitimate questions (that the doctors have been unable or unwilling to answer).
In general, I have a complete lack of trust in this service and can only hope that they improve a great deal over the coming years as I am nervous at having my future care in their hands.
"Consistently let down"
About: Highly Specialist Services / Gender Identity Service (GIS) Highly Specialist Services Gender Identity Service (GIS) Sheffield S10 3TH
Posted by LilyF (as ),
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