"Lack of Internal Communication"

I have been attending Stepping Hill Hospital with both my aged parents, both of whom have cancer, for two years now. Although, on the whole, the actual treatment is acceptable, the total lack of communication is life threatening.

The Doctors and nurses don't appear able to talk to each other or pass information on to each other in a consistent and reliable manner. Notes are lost, not followed up or blatantly ignored. Nobody appears to be talking to anyone else so there is a constant necessity to be explaining where we are up to on treatments and diagnosis which, if left to my parents, would not be possible as neither have good memories.

When two consultants are involved both my parents have been given completely different information by both, without either seeming to know what the other has said. This is confusing and unsettling as, ultimately, you find yourself not trusting what anyone is telling you as it changes depending on which consultant you are talking to. They really need to find a way of monitoring and passing on information which does not consist of scribbled notes in the margins of paper-filled files which are then missed by the next person reading it (computers are useful tools which do not seem to form any part of information sharing at this hospital).