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I made my appointments direct with the hospital

Posted By sticksman

"I made my appointments direct with the hospital"

About: Devon Access and Referral Team (DART)

(as the patient),

I have had to use this service on two occasions. On both it seemed to me be an unnecessary addition to the bureaucracy as they couldn't make an appointment for me and had to get the hospital to contact me direct.

I feel that under the old system I would have got an appointment more quickly. I don't understand what DART is for.

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Responses

Response from Suzanna Morris, Project Support Manager, NHS Devon 12 years ago
Suzanna Morris
Project Support Manager,
NHS Devon

Submitted on 27/05/2011 at 11:08
Published on Care Opinion at 12:47

Dear ‘sticksman’

Thank you for contacting us regarding the problems you have had with DART. I’m sorry that you feel that the service is not worthwhile; we do try to help patients as much as possible. Our service is here to give patients a choice of hospital so that they can choose the time and place that suits them the best for their treatment. This is why you were asked to call us instead of just being referred using the old method of a letter directly from your GP to your consultant. Had you decided you wanted to be seen by a different consultant or at a different hospital, we would have been able to accommodate that.

Usually, when a patient phones DART, we are able to offer a choice of hospitals and view the appointments at each so that the patient can compare waiting times between services.

We are then able to book the appointments with the patient on the phone, I apologise that on the both occasions that you have contacted DART we have not been able to book your appointment and we are working with all the local hospitals so that we can book patients appointment straight away.

If you have any more concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at the Patient Helpdesk on 01626 883888

Kind Regards,

Suzanna

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