"Poor handling of the situation"

I accompanied my mum to an endoscopy appointment and despite the appointment letter stating one carer could accompany her, I was refused entry at the door due to it being a green zone. I had completed a lateral flow test but was advised this wasn’t accepted. Not only that, the clerical staff member then began asking me if I had power of attorney and asked my mum if she was going for sedation or not. None of which had been discussed with my mum previously and should not have been asked by a non clinical member of staff in a waiting room full of people.

 I understand there needs to be safety precautions due to Covid, however my mum struggles to retain information. So what happened is that my already anxious mum went in to the appointment herself and came out 4 hours later unable to tell me fully what procedure had been carried out, if it was safe to eat/drink/take tablets or any follow up care. Thankfully I found a discharge letter in her bag that explained the procedure but discharge information was very minimal and I had to try and get through to the ward for over an hour on the phone to ask if she could take her prescribed medication. 

I feel that the poor misinformation on the appointment letter and the handling of the situation by the clerical staff member really exacerbated anxieties and also breached my mum's data protection and dignity. It was a really horrible experience for both of us.