This is Care Opinion [siteRegion]. Did you want Care Opinion [usersRegionBasedOnIP]?
Care Opinion

Strange system

Story from nhs.uk

"Strange system"

About: Royal Surrey County Hospital

Anything else?

I had the misfortune to visit the Gynaecology dept twice in the last two years or so on unrelated matters, both times i was given an "appointment" of about 11am, as we sat there many more people arrived... no one was being seen... more arrived as the waiting area filled up... standing room only... a few people who had just arrived started to get seen... on the first visit it took over two hours before i was seen last every one who arrived in the two hours after me was seen first, my notes were not even with a Dr. i could see them sat on the nurses desk! When i was seen the woman was on the phone talking to who ever was picking her up to go home and was 99% interested in going home 1% interested in getting rid of me! Second time, similarly as bad over an hour waiting while everyone else was seen. Why give an appointment time? Whats the point? It should be stated on the letter that it is the start time for a pool not a set appointment time, we patients so also have work to go to and lives to live. Strange as it may seem. A few weeks working in a busy customer services training program should be compulsory for all hospital staff and doctors, we have to learn to be polite and organised to have a job, how comes its ok for medical "professionals" not to have to bother.

More about:
nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Royal Surrey County Hospital 10 years ago
Royal Surrey County Hospital

Submitted on 22/10/2013 at 10:41
Published on nhs.uk on 23/10/2013 at 04:00

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. Outpatients 1 is a shared area for gynaecology, antenatal, ultrasound, early pregnancy, colposcopy, vulvoscopy, family planning, fertility, and many more, so we have lots of patients with different appointment times. Patients are seen by their appointment time, not their arrival time into the department, so we recognise that it may appear that a patient arriving after a patient already in the waiting area may be seen to be ‘queue jumping’, but we always keep to appointment time order. We endeavour to stick to the appointment time as much as possible, but depending on other patients’ needs and the length of time they may require with the doctor, may cause delays in clinic. This is not something we are able to rush, due to the nature of our patients visits. The nursing team do keep patients informed about delays as best they can. The department also has patient view screens, where patients can track the clinic themselves. As a department, we can only apologise for delays, as we understand that all patients have commitments they need to attend to, and make arrangements to be able to attend the appointment. We try to prevent delays on a daily basis, and hope that if you were to attend again, you won’t have the same experience. Kind regards, Royal Surrey County Hospital

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k