"Lack of patient communication."

I had an orthopaedic appointment booked for the afternoon of the 10th January 2018 at Worksop Hospital, I duly attended and was informed at the reception desk my appointment had been cancelled by Doncaster Orthopaedics Dept and that all patients had been informed. I had not been made aware of this cancellation. I returned home to Rossington (about a 40 mile round trip) and rang the Doncaster Orthopaedics and was told that a letter had been sent the day before (9th Jan) and I should have received it on the 10th. I told the lady I had not received any letter or had any messages left on my answer phone. She promised to look into it and call me back on Friday 12th Jan. She never rang me back. I actually received the letter on Friday lunchtime cancelling my appointment and making another one. When patients do not turn up for appointments they come under fire from the NHS. I had a totally wasted afternoon not to mention the 40 mile round trip. Would the NHS compensate me for the mileage and wasted time? I doubt it very much. Tax payers pay their wages, we, the public expect better service than this. I am a pensioner and this turned out to be a very expensive waste of time and effort due to the negligence of NHS staff.