"Up to a point my experience has been..."

What I liked

Up to a point my experience has been positive, however recently I have been having difficulties with communications at the Royal Lancaster Hospital .Having been a patient of a certain consultant since Feb 2010 and having diagnostic MRI tests for my condition on June 7th I was told on 5th July that I would need further surgery. This I was told would be August/September and would be on the priority list. My GP was also written to with this information. A letter I have been shown by him and it was noted on the form written by the consultant which I too saw.

It wasn't until I made several phone calls myself having not heard anything as to when this might be planned in I discovered that this is now not the case and I have not been put on the priority list when I clearly should have been. I actually have no idea of when the surgery will take place and feel that I am being held to ransom by the NHS and I am not able to re-organise my work or home life to accommodate this. Had I not made those phonecalls I would never have known that this is the case because this had not been communicated to me or my GP. Whilst I appreciate that NHS waiting lists are extensive but not even knowing an approximate month that this might happen is extremely fustrating.I must say that I too also understand that waiting list are a moveable feast and appreciate that there are cases that may be more urgent than mine. My understanding of the 18 week waiting times has now been scrapped by the government which is unfortunate for people like me who now feel that I will be waiting for months or even years for the surgery that I need and in the meantime the bone disease that I now have has started to impact the quality of my life and will be far worse by the time I am taken into theatre. I would appreciate your views on the above as I've not been able to speak to anyone who might be able to help me get this resolved.

What could be improved

Communication and people who can read the forms filled out by the consultants and input them correctly.