"The referral system is extremely ..."

What could be improved

The referral system is extremely slow and chaotic. Any referrals my knee problem has created and have been marked as "urgent" seem to have had the opposite effect. I had poor initial assesment and was told that I should have been referred to orthopedic department sooner but despite the 6 week wait nothing in my treatment was treated as a matter of urgency.

Even after contacting my MP who wrote to the hospital on my behalf the snails pace continued As to date, I am still waiting for treatment for a knee, which I hurt in early November 2009!

Anything else?

When I call to enquire about appointment dates, I get put through to a " patient experience" administrators who explain to me how the appointments system works quoting government target times. I am not stupid, I want to know WHEN the appointment is not HOW the appointments are made.