"Excellent when it came to treatment....BUT......"

When it came to having my Spinal Injection and Spinal Surgery the staff were fantastic! Could not fault them at all! However trying to get treatment in the first place was a nightmare! I was referred by my GP via the NHS choose and book system but I was only given this hospital and one consultant/surgeon as a choice. I went to see this consultant many times about a slip disc on my lower and upper back and despite worsening pain and progressive muscle weakness in both areas I was denied treatment from one excuse to another. I requested this surgeon to scan my upper back on every visit but he refused and only ever scanned my lower back despite going in the scanner twice. It seemed one excuse was made after another denying me treatment I needed. And to add to it, my account on the choose and book system kept deactivating and I kept having to return to my GP to be re-referred for treatment. Eventually I was granted treatment (which was excellent). But after my op my symptoms returned again, the consultant again denied treatment and said to see how things go and said to contact him/her after a few months to get further treatment. When I tried to, my account had been deactivated AGAIN by the consultant his/herself! Fed up with being mucked around I went to see a different surgeon at an NHS hospital (another long wait) he/she granted me a full back scan that I should have received in the first place and has diagnosed me with permanent nerve damage caused by delayed treatment. I feel I wasn't treated fairly and I don't understand why, but according to my GP...there may be an issue with money between the government and private hospitals (which if it is) sickens me to think they can mess with people's lives like this. So I would recommend having treatment here without a doubt....best place you could be...but if you feel you're symptoms are not being taken seriously then go elsewhere. Wish I had done.