I am ( I hope) in remission from lung cancer, after 2 operations and radio therapy, so I need tri-monthly CT scans to monitor the lesion.
Usually my appointments for this are at East Surrey, but this time the letter arrived saying the appointment was at 08.20 hrs at Crawley Hospital. Previous experiences at Crawley have not been great).
We duly arrived at about 08.00 hrs to find reception for the Imaging Department locked and shuttered.. After a while a collection of people had by now built up. At 08.21 the shutters opened. Firstly the receptionist couldn't find my birth date on the system, then said we have you down for a 09.20 appointment!
Having taken a seat, we waited until 08.45 , then someone appeared with a tatty notice board, which had on it " waiting times between 20 & 45 minutes", and at that point they hadn't even started work!
After a further delay, a member of staff approached and said you need to drink water before your CT- we questioned why this information hadn't been imparted 30 minutes earlier? The reply was you should have been. We then asked why there was such a delay this early in the day, the reply was that the person who switches the machines on didn't come in - unbelievable. Further discussion ensued with a more senior member of staff, who explained that they are always complaining about the computer booking system, it regularly gets appointments wrong. Shambolic. Reverting to the matter of water intake before CT, we explained that the numerous CTs at East Surrey during the cancer treatment had been carried out without the need to drink- as an aside I am allergic to Contrast Dye, so have to have CTs without it.
The CT was finally carried out at 09.15- 55minutes late!
Someone needs to get a grip on the situation in this department, before it gets totally out of hand.
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