"The system has let our daughter down"

My daughter is under the care of a neonatal consultant at Wishaw Hospital for ongoing medical issues.

At her last appointment we raised concerns about a curvature of her spine. She had x-rays which confirmed a scoliosis of her spine. Her consultant referred her to the spinal service at RSC in Glasgow. This referral was rejected as referrals can only be made by a specialist. She was referred to a visiting paediatric orthopaedic consultant who she saw in April.

They agreed she needed specialist assessment and referred to the Scottish Spinal team. Unfortunately this referral was mistyped and sent to Glasgow instead of emailing it directly to Edinburgh as is normal procedure. I discovered this 4 weeks later when I contacted Glasgow and they had no record of a referral. After much to ing and fro ing I requested for the referral to be emailed to Edinburgh and they received this one month after the original consultation. Three weeks later the referral was vetted routinely, not taking into account the administrative delay, and an appointment has been sent for August almost 6 months after her original x-rays.

I find this completely unacceptable and feel that the system has let our daughter down. As an NHS employee I have understanding about how the system works. I have been able to contact secretaries and try to chase things up but I feel like I have been banging my head against a brick wall. I contacted the PALS service at Wishaw but I am sorry to say this was completely unhelpful. As the delay spans different health boards no-one was willing to accept any responsibility or offer any help. I was told this was outwith our remit, I can’t help as it isn’t life or death situation...

Unfortunately the deformity of my daughter’s spine is worsening. Originally this was very subtle but now people who don’t know anything about it are now commenting and I see a very significant abnormality. 

I have found the last few months extremely frustrating. I only have my daughter’s best interest at heart and if after waiting for 6 months I find out that something needed to be done sooner I wouldn’t forgive myself. I feel that we the only choice we have now is to be seen privately which I don’t believe we should have to do.