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Appointment at breast clinic

Story from nhs.uk

"Appointment at breast clinic"

About: Central Middlesex Hospital

Firstly I was just sent a text saying I had an appointment with just a date and time but no information about what it was for. On calling I was told it was for the results of an ultrasound I'd had the previous week and I would be sent a letter but did not receive anything. During the ultrasound I was told everything was ok. When I called to find out if I needed this appointment I was told the results get triple checked and that I should come in for the appointment to avoid a delay if the scan revealed a problem. I was reluctant to go in for results which I already knew as I had a newborn baby and didn't want to take him out in the cold unnecessarily and was told there was no other way to get the results straight away. I decided to go in for the appointment as I was strongly advised and left my baby with a relative so I could quickly attend. On arrival I asked the staff if I could be seen a little earlier than my 9.00am appointment so I could return to feed my baby. Despite the doctor arriving at 8.50 I was not called in until 9.10 while the doctor seemed to be taking her time and getting a coffee even though they had a shortage of doctors on the day. Once called in I was informed that they did not have any results for me. Therefore this was a wasted appointment for me and this meant my baby was distressed as his feed was delayed for no reason. The doctor informed me she could send me results by post, which I had originally asked for when I called and was told i couldn't.

As my text appointment said, a missed appointment costs the NHS £160 so this appointment also wasted £160 for the NHS when I could have just been sent a letter. Surely when there are such strains on the NHS, this inefficiency should not be happening.

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Responses

Response from Sue Fenwick Elliott, Head of Patient Experience, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust 6 years ago
Sue Fenwick Elliott
Head of Patient Experience,
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

Submitted on 14/02/2018 at 11:38
Published on Care Opinion at 12:49

I am so sorry to hear that you had such a frustrating time, particularly as it meant you left your new born at home. This does sound very inefficient and I have passed your feedback on to the team.

It is definitely wise to get the formal results rather than relying on the sonographer saying it looks OK. We can send results out by mail and you should have been offered that choice. That said if you were referred on a 2 week pathway, it is recommended that you see a clinician in case you have any questions or worries that we can help with.

We deliberately send texts without indicating the clinic to preserve patient's privacy. We have discussed this with a group of patients and the agreement was that it was better to err on the side of confidentiality.

I hope you now have your results and that all is well. If not, or if you would like us to follow this up on your behalf, please contact the PALS team on 0208 869 5118 or LNWH-tr.PALS@nhs.net. They will do their best to help you.

Thanks again for your feedback, it helps us to do better in future.

Best wishes

Sue

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Response from Sue Fenwick Elliott, Head of Patient Experience, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust 6 years ago
Sue Fenwick Elliott
Head of Patient Experience,
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

Submitted on 14/02/2018 at 12:40
Published on Care Opinion at 15:47

I am so sorry to hear that you had such a frustrating time, particularly as it meant you left your new born at home. This does sound very inefficient and I have passed your feedback on to the team.

It is definitely wise to get the formal results rather than relying on the sonographer saying it looks OK. We can send results out by mail and you should have been offered that choice. That said if you were referred on a 2 week pathway, it is recommended that you see a clinician in case you have any questions or worries that we can help with.

We deliberately send texts without indicating the clinic to preserve patient's privacy. We have discussed this with a group of patients and the agreement was that it was better to err on the side of confidentiality.

I hope you now have your results and that all is well. If not, or if you would like us to follow this up on your behalf, please contact the PALS team on 0208 869 5118 or LNWH-tr.PALS@nhs.net. They will do their best to help you.

Thanks again for your feedback, it helps us to do better in future.

Best wishes

Sue

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
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