"Appointment letter arrived late"

It's very rare that I have anything negative to say about the nhs. Despite its flaws, it is a fantastic service and I am well aware of how essential it is to a great number of people. If te NHS didn't exist, I would be pretty certain my son wouldn't have had his operation in December 2014.

His experience in Yorkhill, Glasgow, was fantastic. It is afterwards that problems began.

We were told to expect an appointment at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, six weeks after his operation to remove a dermoid cyst from his left orbital socket. When this letter did not arrive after the allotted time, I contacted the secretary of the doctor who's name was on the letter which gave us the date of the operation. We were subsequently told that as he did not perform the operation himself, but a letter would be sent out. This did not happen, and I contacted his secretary again and explained the situation again. She found an appointment time at Gartnavel Hosptial, Glasgow for mid February, and that a letter would be sent off with further details.

This letter also did not arrive, and I was forced to contact his secretary again as all I knew of my sons appointment was the hospital and what time I was to be there. Thankfully she was most helpful every time I spoke to her.

The appointment letter arrived late February, almost a full two weeks after the appointment. On the envelope, someone had taken it upon themselves to write first class instead if stamping it. I can only be thankful that I was persistent in getting the details, else someone else would have received their appointment two weeks late, which is unfair to both the patient, as it could have been for something much more serious, or the NHS who it would cost money for someone to miss an appointment they had no idea of.