"Very poor communication "

My elderly father was admitted to hospital with back pain and low oxygen levels. We were called by the doctor from the ward to tell us she was ordering an urgent scan due to his history of strokes to see if there were any clots in his lungs or heart. We traveled 2 hours to the hospital and spoke to the doctor, who said we could ring anytime and speak to someone, as she didn’t know when the scan would be. I have no issues with her but 2 days later, after numerous phone calls, we have no further information. The receptionist on the ward says she will go and find someone but no one is ever available to come to the phone. We are told to ring later but the same thing happens again.

As we are a 2 hour drive away, we can’t just pop in and although we say this repeatedly, details aren’t passed on.

When we are told that the results of the scan could show a serious issue, it’s not good enough that we can’t find anything out.

In desperation, my brother has set off in bad weather to make the 4 hour round trip to the hospital to speak to someone and try to get answers.

I know staff are overstretched but this is a human issue which is causing us a lot of worry and should be understood.