"Dermatology department: Disappointing..."

My GP referred me for assessment of a skin lesion, and was seen on 20th November 2017 at the dermatology department. I was very happy with how I was treated. It was suggested I should have the lesion removed and having agreed to proceed to a minor operation, I was given a form to hand in at the desk, where I was told that I would be contacted with details of the date.

Three weeks later, as I had not heard from the dermatology department, I phoned (4th of December 2017) the number I had been given, only to hear a recorded message saying that the person I wanted was not available and that I should not leave a message as there was a problem with the line. Over the next 48 hours, I phoned a total of 17 times, including other numbers given to me by the hospital switchboard. Only once did i actually speak to a person at the other end, who promised to call me later with a date for my operation, but. she didn't, and all the other calls I made were answered by the same recorded message, or were simply not answered. I decided to go to the hospital directly on December 7th, but they were unable to give me a date for my operation, as the person responsible was sick and they couldn't find my papers. I was told that he would be back the following week, and that I would be contacted. On December the 7th I emailed the Complaints Department at C&WH, and on 11th December I was told I would receive a response within 5 working days.

By the 18th December no response or appointment had been received, and I contacted the Complaints Department again, and I was told I would receive a reply within the next 24 hours. I finally spoke to the person responsible for organizing minor surgery appointments on 19th December. This person was very apologetic, and offered me a couple of dates, but it transpired in the course of our conversation, that he had been off sick and in hospital for 4 weeks, but the department had failed to find a replacement, deal with the phone access problems, or arrange appointments for patients who were waiting for them. I felt very bad for this person, who was put into a position of having to apologize for the failings of his managers and administrative staff, as it were his fault that he had been ill in hospital himself.

I finally had my operation on 8th January 2018 and I was very happy with the way I was treated, but to date I have not received a response from the people responsible for running the appointments service. It is not just the delay in having a date for my operation, but also the inefficient and incompetent way in which that side of the service is run. Making it impossible to allow patients to contact the appointments department when a key member of staff is off sick, and then make this person take responsibility for apologizing for the incompetence of others seems very wrong. My lesion was potentially cancerous, so being kept waiting and without access to the appointment department was not helpful.