"Some of the staff were nice."

What I liked

Some of the staff were nice.

What could be improved

The waiting times for the Orthotics Department are absolutely ridiculous. The appointments receptionist was unhelpful and unsympathetic, when I was in considerable pain (8/10 after maximum a couple of hours on my feet), her replay was "Everybody is in pain".

Anything else?

This is my second time at the Orthotics department and is even more disappointing then first time.

First time I was referred in mid Feb 2008, I was given an appointment in May on a date I couldn't go, they gave me another appointment in June, only to call me a few days before the appointment to tell me that is postponed till July. That's 5 months waiting.

Following an ankle surgery in 2009, my arches started to collapse as a result of Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction Grade 1, my surgeon referred me for custom insoles and because of the distance, I choose to go to Queen Mary's which is closer to home, instead of RNOH Stanmore. I now deeply regret my decision.

I was referred to Queen Mary's Orthotics department on 10th of Aug 2009 and even thought my GP asked for an "as soon as possible" appointment because I was in considerable pain, I was given an appointment on 9th of Oct 2009, after I spoke with the receptionist from the appointments, I was put on a cancellation list. It is hard to believe that there were no cancellations in nearly 8 weeks. I finally received the insoles on 24th of Nov 2009, that is an unbelievable 15 weeks waiting time from the referral.

Because of the ridiculous waiting time, the Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction deteriorated from Grade 1 to Grade 2.

In December I went back and had added a bit more on 1 insole as was not giving enough support, but was added too much, a couple of weeks later I went in without appointment, and the orthotist was very kind and shaved a bit off the insole, he couldn't add more to the other one as was taking too long and needed an appointment for it. Of course, there were no appointments before the one I got in mid Feb. I couldn't wait until then as the insoles need adjusting, and I can't wait 4-6 weeks between appointments to have them adjusted.

I now went back to RNOH and I do my orthotics there, I got appointment in 1 week and received the new orthotics 4 weeks later. 5 weeks compared with 15 weeks at QMH.