"Unnecessary hospital trip from Western Isles to Glasgow"

I received an appointment letter for an MRI of my heart. On the letter was a number to call should I have a pacemaker. I do, so I called the number to see if I still needed the appointment. They put me through the Golden Jubilee where I had my pacemaker fitted in February 2020, they said they didn’t order the MRI so I was then passed to the GRI where I had had my initial cardiac investigations in December 2019. They told me I needed the MRI to “tie up loose ends”.

So I travelled to the GRI from the Western Isles for my appointment mid September 2020 (incidentally when Glasgow was in local lockdown and the Western Isles was not) only to be told that I couldn’t possibly have an MRI because I have a pacemaker. And whilst there are specific models that are safe in MRI, nobody had a note of the specific make and model of my pacemaker.

I am concerned about the amount of NHS money wasted on this trip for flights, accommodation and the procedure which someone else might have benefited from.

I am also disappointed that I travelled to an area in local lockdown unnecessarily. Had I needed and received the MRI I would have felt like the benefit outweighed the risks involved, but as nothing was done...

But lastly I would like to say that my experience of the NHS at both the GRI in December 2019 and the Golden Jubilee in February 2020 was amazing. I will always be immeasurably grateful for the care and expertise I received for my heartblock and subsequent pacemaker. I felt like I was receiving the very best care during all my investigations and for the surgery itself. 

I believe the issue came down to poor communication when I called the number on the letter to tell them I had a pacemaker. I had a total of 4 telephone calls at this time between Golden Jubilee, GRI, booking offices. I was told in the MRI department that “they” had potentially checked my “local” records not my “global” ones. 

I remain confused about

1) whether or not I still need an MRI of my heart

2) whether or not my model of pacemaker is one that is safe in an MRI. 

I plan to discuss this further with my GP.

Thanks for your time with this.