"Keep loosing records from GP for consultation..."

My father has never been a burden on the state.

He is an ex-serviceman serving Queen and Country and has rarely visited hospital in 81 years.

Suffering from chronic pain caused by a severely arthritic hip he desperately needs a hip replacement operation and has spent months trying to get an appointment through his GP for a consultation at his local hospital.

Southend University Hospital NHS Trust.

This would be just the first step to getting the operation that he so desperately needs.

In the mean time my mother in her late 70's struggles to help him get by day to day and the quality of life for both of them has suffered substantially.

When ever they phone Southend Hospital on the phone number given to them they are fobbed off. Firstly they were told that my father was on their system but they had no record of an appointment request and then they were told that they had to wait for new appointment dates to be released. What next?

How can this have happened?

I am desperately worried and saddened by the situation faced by both of my parents and am writing this in the hope that someone somewhere from Southend Hospital might read this and be able to offer some helpful advice. Thank you.(January 2018 represents phone calls. We haven't been offered a visit to orthopaedics)