"Extremely dissapointing and stressful."

What I liked

Nothing

What could be improved

Communication.

I had an outpatients appointment booked on 10 May 2011 at 2.20pm with GI & Liver Dept. When I attended the appointment I was told by the receptionist that the appointment had been changed to 9.30am on the same day but they had not sent the letter out so I had missed it. They said this had been happening alot recently. I was kept waiting for an hour whilst they tried, unsuccessfully, to rebook an appointment within the next two weeks. I was told they would write to me with my new appointment. I am still waiting.

On 18May 2011 I had an Echocardiagram but when my GP tried to access the results on 20 May she was told they had lost them.

On 24 May I had an Angiogram which showed I needed another stent fitting to the end of the one I already have. The reason given was because Plaque had built up on the end of the existing stent.

This was quite worrying because on my previous visits to this hospital (The last one being on 12 April 2011) I was told that there was nothing wrong with my heart and to manage the pains with painkillers. I have now had a second opinion from a cardiologist in london who looked at my Angiogram film with me. They explained the narrowing is not due to Plaque but damage sustained to the vessel during the last angioplasty procedure carried out at the Royal Sussex in November 2010. This suggests that either the Dr that carried out the procedure is incompetant or is hiding something.

Anything else?

Is it not better for the doctor to tell the truth rather than saying the problem was caused by something else. Whether it was a mistake or an unfortunate side effect of fitting the stent is in some way not important. I would rather know what is wrong with me so we can then get on with putting it right.

I have lost all faith in the Royal Sussex County Hospital and will hopefully have no reason to go there again. I am waiting for an appointment in London for an Angioplasty and will have to find alternative hospitals to deal with my other health issues.