"Dreadful appointment system for cardiology"

My first visit to cardiology went very well. At gather second visit, a 24 hour monitor was fitted - again , excellent service. I was told that I wou receive an appointment to discuss the results with one of the consultant's team.

A letter duly arrives after 3 weeks but it was a repeat invitation to have a monitor fitted. Since I was unsure if the results of the monitor eere faulty or whether there had been a mistake and a monitor fitting invitation had been sent out in error, I rang the number at the top of the letter. I was connected to a recorded message which said: you can't leave a message and we are either away from our desk or too busy to take your call. I tried to ring again on six occasions - same message.

Irang the qeII switchboard - very helpful - who put me through to out patients appointments. The woman here was brusque, rude, refused to identify herself and put me back to the main switch. The person there - very helpful- suggested I rang the consultant' s secretary or the main cardiology number. I was asked to leave a message- I asked if I could be contacted back and left my number. I have not received a reply.

I am more than happy with all of my interactions with the monitor fitting team and my treatment. However, the message on the cardiology outpatient is breathtakingly rude. It also seems that it is impossible to contact anyone about an appointment.

I am quite happy to be contacted about my experience but would expect that the outpatient appointment team urgently need to review their culture and their systems.

Dermott McNulty