"Great doctors but the booking team are awful"

I was rushed to hospital with chest pains and excruciating palpitations. I was seen in MAU by a team of excellent doctors and nurses who then discharged me after 10 hours and advised that I would be contacted by the cardiologist in the next few days.

When I hadn't heard from them after 2 days I called the booking office who were extremely rude and advised that I would hear in 4 days. After 4 days there was still no contact so I called again. Again they were exceptionally rude and told me to wait - as a generally healthy 29 year old I was extremely worried about what was happening and having no diagnosis or explanation for why I had to spend a night in hospital next to a defibrillator.

Eventually I received a letter in the post advising that my appointment was 6 weeks from the incident.

I saw a Dr. who was pleasant and explained everything to me very clearly, including the fact that it was essential to have an Echocardiogram.

Unfortunately when I received the appointment for my Echo it was at a time when I was out of the country due to personal family reasons out of my control. I then received another date which was also inappropriate. When I rang to reschedule I was advised that as I was 'cancelling' twice I would be discharged and not receive the scan I need. This is despite the fact that I had on both occasions given over 2 weeks notice. Once again the secretary was rude, did not tell me how to rectify the situation and hung up the phone on me.

My advise would be to contact the secretaries of the cardiologists directly and avoid the people in the booking office at all costs!