"I have been trying to cancel an ..."

We're sorry that you have had this experience - and we are aware of the problem. This is why we will be launching early next year an online service, through our website, to handle such issues as the one that you have raised.

Basically it will allow you to cancel an appointment and, as needed, seek a new one. These messages will then get picked up by a dedicated team who will not only ensure that patients get the information they need quickly, but ongoing problems such as the one you have highlighted in your message can get sorted out much faster than is the case present.

Being an online service also means that people can make these requests at times of the day to suit them, rather than when our contact centre staff are on duty. It also should free up our staff to be able to deal with those people who choose to make contact by phone.

As a new service, it won't resolve everyone's problems - but had it been in place already, we doubt that you would have had a need to post your comments as the matter would have been dealt with to your satisfaction.

In the meantime, please accept our apologies for the experience that you have had to date. If you still need to cancel your appointment, please e-mail your details to generalenquiries.enh-tr@nhs.net and we'll make sure that it gets sorted quickly.