"bad administrative system"

My husband was referred to the UCLH for dental treatment. He was also referred to another more appropriate hospital for dental treatment. He tried to contact UCLH to cancel his dental appointment with them. He tried several times to get through on the phone but failed. He then found an email address for them, let them know he wouldn't be attending, and asked them to confirm receipt of this email. He heard nothing.

My husband received a letter dated the day of his proposed appointment which said that he had failed to attend so the hospital were discharging him back to the dentist.

We were annoyed about this because my husband did contact the hospital to cancel his appointment, but the snotty letter made it sound as if he hadn't bothered to turn up. UCLH need to develop a better admin system, and quickly, to avoid people being unable to make appointments due to the fact that the hospital do not acknowledge patients cancelling their appointments.