"Poor admin holding up my treatment and care"

It is now over 1 month since I saw my specialist (having had the appointment changed /postponed by Kings at short notice approximately 5 times).

Two weeks ago - as a precaution (because I know how disorganised the hospital is from previous experience), I wrote asking for a copy of the letter that I should receive as a matter of course; the same letter sent to my GP outlining my current diagnosis and recommendations for treatment.

Kings sent me the wrong letter - an old one from last year.

I need this letter for a number of reasons - my GP does nothing unless I go in there with a copy of the consultant's letter and fight my corner. I need sight of the letter before I see her so that I can prepare. No letter - no treatment.

I also need a copy for one of my other specialists I am seeing next week, since all my diseases are inter-related and it helps the one to know what the other is doing. The fact that I now don't have this letter to give my other specialist is unhelpful in the extreme, as I only get to see him every 6 months.

The NHS is so exhausting, it wears me down; as if those who are ill and managing to hang onto their jobs are not exhausted as it is. I should have been sent this letter within a fortnight of seeing the consultant. It's not difficult, it's basic admin.

Then to be sent an old letter having chased is so shoddy and unprofessional - records would show I was there a month ago, so why send me a letter relating to a visit from 2012? Pointless and useless.

This is not an isolated incident at Kings. I've had several bad experiences there ranging from breaches of medical confidentiality and the data protection act (still waiting for a formal response on that; use of contra indicated drugs during surgery, disorganisation and delays in relation to my appointments) so clearly the whole place is on need of an overhaul and effective management.