"could have been improved."

What I liked

My mother (who does not speak very good english)had an outpatient appointment in the renal department after trying to see the consultant for several weeks.

She was kept waiting all morning along with the rest of the patients who were told that the doctor was running late. my mother had been accompanied by a family member who contacted me to say they had been waiting 2 hours with no one been seen. i then contacted the desk myself and asked what the hold up was, i was told my mother was waiting for her blood test results to come back- when i informed the clerk that she hasn't even had her bloods taken, she continued to insist she had. I became annoyed at the level of arrogance displayed and i asked to speak to the management, i was told they would ring me- they never did.

concerned that my mother was diabetic and may go into a hypo if she didn't eat soon, my relative mentioned this to the nurse and she said there was nothing she could do but we were free to get some food for her but if her name was called out and she didn't go in, she'd lose her place!

What could be improved

I then contacted the matron for the unit who listened to my concerns and said she would contact me once she has investigated. she didn't contact me and at this point i was very irate as my relative phoned to tell me my mum had a hypo. i then contacted the matron again and was very firm about how appalled i was that no one bothered to contact me and we were ignored repeatedly.

eventually after her sugar levels dropped, they finally decided to take notice and offer her a cup of tea etc. seemed only after we became really angry they decided to take notice. i demanded that someone phones me back within 10 minutes to explain exactly what has happened.

the outpatient management phoned to tell me that there had been a breakdown of communication (despite the several phonecalls i had made) and appologised for the way my mum had been treated. they said they would investigate this and write to me. 3 weeks on i've had nothing back and am not holding my breath.

Anything else?

working in the health service myself i know how challenging it can be to provide and efficient service at the best of times but the most frustrating thing about this whole process was that i was repeatedly fobbed off with inaccurate information to end the call and that made me more upset.

it is also equally frustrating when someone tells you they will call you back and have absolutely no intention to do so.