"Why was I not given the chance to use choose and book?"

In February of this year I was referred by a consultant via my GP for cataract surgery.

In April I received a letter from my local hospital informing me that I had missed an appointment (it would appear that the original appointment letter had been lost in the post). I was surprised that I had not been given the option to ‘choose and book’ so I wrote to my GP regarding my concern and received a response merely indicating that they have booked a further appointment at my local hospital and ignoring my specific query regarding my option to choose and book.

So I wrote to my local CCG raising my concern and received a response from them indicating that as my GP had investigated the matter and responded to me (the letter that had prompted me to write to the CCG) they were unable to proceed with the matter.

Despite contacting both my local CCG and GP I have been unable to establish why I have been denied the legal right to choose and book.