"Appointments being changed"

Recently my partner has been referred for treatment at the Headland unit RCHT.  We had a very positive meeting with the consultant and following this consultation my partner received a letter which gave him an appointment schedule, which included dates and times, taking us up until March 2022 , the first of these appointments was to commence this week at 12 noon which we were happy to accept, especially  given we have a little over an  hours journey to and from Treliske and I didn’t wish to be driving late on in the day.

My partner doesn’t drive, so I will be doing all the driving  to and from the hospital, and as I am an older and somewhat nervous driver, I am not confident having to drive during rush hour or the twilight or darker periods, so having received the original letter  confirming appointment times, I had nothing to be anxious about, so  imagine my dismay when four days before the appointment, I took a phone call from a member of the Headland admin staff to inform us, that my partners appointment had now been changed from 12noon  to 1.40pm, nobody had the courtesy to check that this would be convenient for us, we were just offered a fait accompli. When  I made it clear I was unhappy with this change, and stated my driving concerns , I was told very firmly that some patients that attend the headlands unit are very sick and sometimes need to rebook appointments and it was the responsibility of the unit to fit them in where they could. As my partner is one of those patients who will now be attending for cancer treatment , neither of us can comprehend just why it is his appointment time has been changed, seemingly to accommodate the wishes of another patient, this is particularly frustrating as we were never made aware that this sort of short notice chopping and changing of appointment times was likely to happen, and leaves us feeling very unsettled about future appointment times, especially as we are coming into shorter days now.    

I asked approximately how long the appointments are likely to last and booking clerk advised me,  that to be on the safe side we should allow at least 2 hours for a first appointment, as there will be administration to be completed by the nursing staff, and to be fair had the appointment been left at 12 O’clock this would not have been a problem, however when I expressed concern that with the new appointment time this could well mean he could be leaving the clinic nearer to 4 O clock, this person went on to say that I had to bear in mind it isn’t guaranteed that my partner would be seen at 1.40 either, as it is a very busy clinic and often appointment times run late,  again when I expressed  my concerns that this could potentially mean  we may well not get on the road until 5ish the repose was they were sure it would be ok,  it’s not like its winter time when it gets dark really early. To be honest I felt this was a very dismissive attitude, to what for me at least, is a very real anxiety, added to what is already a very stressful time for both of us.

Another query which wasn’t really addressed that well, was where can I go to wait for my partner for when he is ready to leave, we live too far away for me to go home and then come back following his treatment, and as his appointment letter states (and I totally appreciate) I can’t wait In the Headlands unit, but as it seems I will have somewhere between 2-3 hours hanging around waiting, I may need toilet facilities or somewhere to get a drink or just somewhere ‘safe’ to sit and read a book, the clerk did say they thought there was a café somewhere near the Sunrise centre or downstairs in the Tower block, but they couldn’t check if they were open or not, as they were working from home and couldn’t look it up for me. From previous visits to the main hospital I understand that only people attending outpatient clinics or those  following restricted visiting times to the wards, were allowed into the hospital, so where does that leave me?

Summing up, what is done is done, and we obviously have no choice but to accept the changes, and hope for the best, but sadly we are left with the feeling that what had started out  as very positive consultation where we felt like we had a voice and mattered as individuals, now seems to have reduced us to just being numbers on somebodies planning schedule.