"Disappointing experience with DART"

I have had a disappointing experience with DART which has left me in limbo.

Following an appointment with my doctor between Christmas and New Year I received a referral letter from my GP in late December advising me to call DART to make the appointment. I called them on when an appointment was made for me in Axmister in February.

Two days later I received a letter from DART stating the appointment had been cancelled but no explanation why or what I should do next to make a further appointment. When I queried this I was still not volunteered any information – I had to ask what I should do. I was advised to phone a secretary, in Exeter, after two weeks if I had not heard anything by then. I was not offered the relevant phone number; I had to look this up myself.

When I did not hear anything further I called the other secretary. They have no knowledge about me and suggested I ask my GP to fax his referral letter to them so that they could look into the matter for me.

At this moment in time I’m not sure when I’ll be seen to treat my medical condition.

I spoke to the original secretary just to check whether they were aware of the original appointment. After some investigation they were able to tell me that I had been incorrectly referred to the consultant and that I had been referred to the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital who should have my details. I called the RD&E, specifically the clinic to which I had been referred – they could not find any record of me. However, they remembered that there are different referral systems and by searching under a different referral they were able to find my details. I am now expecting to hear from the hospital in the next two days to either confirm my appointment or to start the process again.