"Endocrinology Appointment"

My daughter was given an outpatient appointment with the Endocrinology Department, within the Children's Hospital at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for the beginning of February 2020.

The date of the appointment clashed with a weekend away our family had planned, so I contacted the central booking office to ask if this could be re-scheduled.  The central booking office cancelled the appointment, but told us they could not re-book and that the Endocrinology department would be informed and re-book for us asap.

2 weeks had passed and I had received no new appointment for my daughter.  I called the central booking office, they could give me no information.  I called Endocrinology secretary directly, and got an answer phone.  I left a message on the voicemail with my daughters CHI number, my name and number and requested a call back. 

I got no response, so one week later I called the Endocrinology department again.  The phone was answered by a member of the admin staff who took my daughters name and acknowledged we had called the week before, but they personally hadn't been here and noone is checking the phones.  

This admin staff member told me my daughters appointment would be re-scheduled. They could not tell me how much longer we would have to wait or when the new appointment would be. 

This staff member also inferred on the phone that we had simply not turned up for the appointment, which was most worrying.  I cancelled 3 weeks in advance, as I am well aware of the pressure on the services, and issues with DNAs. 

I asked for a call back and was told they would speak to the relevant Consultant and get back to me that day or the next.  It is several days down the line and I have had no response. 

Due to a simple clash with our weekend away and the appointment, we have now waited an additional 3 weeks on top of the 10 weeks we waited for the appointment in the first place.

I am becoming more concerned by my 5 year old daughters presentation, the details of which I won't go into here.  This is causing anxiety for myself and my husband. 

The communication here has been very poor, and I am extremely disappointed at the lengths I have had to go to wait in telephone queues, leave voicemails, be told I was getting contacted and have a return of absolutely nothing.  I do wonder how those less able than myself cope in these situations.    

For this reason I thought best to put this through Care Opinion in the hope it doesn't happen to someone else, with a health concern about a small child.

In the meantime I will need to keep plugging away to get a response.  Not ideal with a busy job and life.