"Appalling communication and no follow-up"

Had somewhat mixed experiences of CCDH.

Appointments are NEVER on time - waits of between 15 and 60 minutes past the appointment time are standard in the dentistry & orthodontics department I visited.

When I finally did get through the rather dismal labyrinthine corridors, the dentist was lovely and mostly gentle.

I had x-rays in the miserable x-ray department which involved further long waits. That department was well overdue a refresh decor-wise, but I always believe this should not be a priority in healthcare if at the expense of patient care.

The lengthy course of treatment was not a total success.

As a result, the dentist explained that the next step was for me to have an appointment with the Professor to discuss how to proceed. I was told that I would then receive an appointment for this purpose once the dentist had discussed the case with them.

Neither I nor my (routine) dentist heard anything else from CCDH. We received no information about the treatment - my dentist assumed I was still waiting to be treated at CCDH as they had heard nothing from them at all during my course of treatment!

My dentist complained about this to CCDH when chasing up the lack of communication when I was erroneously discharged. The explanation we received was that there had never been an intention to do what the dentist had told me would happen. (This doesn't explain the lack of communication or treatment summary to either me or my dentist, but this is a problem I've had repeatedly with other STH departments of whom I am a patient and clearly indicative of a more systematic problem with the Trust that has not improved despite having previously been reported to their Patient Services Team.)

I see no reason why my subsequently contacting the patient services team about this failure to communicate should be of any benefit - hopefully my dentist's complaint will have invoked STH's clinical complaints procedures.

I was subsequently given up a follow-up appointment in light of my dentist's complaint, but it was a long time in the future and I had left Yorkshire by then and so couldn't attend - I shall never know what the intended further course might have been!