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"Extremely late appointment, Consultant rushed,..."

About: Blakelands NHS Treatment Centre

Was at this place after GP recommended a colonoscopy for my father for his treatment. I had to be with my father as he is sometimes confused, and confuses others too. I wanted to ensure he talked about the right things, and did not confuse others. First of all the appointment was over 40 minutes late. This is appalling for a private hospital. What is worse - not even one single apology, from either receptionist, consultant or his helper. Just extremely stern looks from all staff, like as if this was a mortuary. Can anyone say why is there a 40 minute delay? We all have busy lives you know! We are not idling at home with plenty of time to spare and we have work to get to, kids to attend etc. The least this private hospital staff could have done is show a smile with a sincere apology for the delay. I walked in with my dad to meet the consultant. He was rushing through extremely quickly, with questions, rudely interrupting my dad several times who was not able to answer clearly. Obviously I guess this rush was because he was running late. Was it our (the patient's) fault? We had arrived on time and deserved dignity and respect. The consultant was getting impatient with every reply my dad gave! I was actually shocked, but did not wish to intervene because of what I felt could lead to repercussions resulting in my dad being treated badly later on. I really felt that I wanted to intervene and gently remind the consultant that if he is patient my dad can answer all the questions clearly. But I kept quiet. I was then asked to leave the room for examination of my dad, which is quite fair for patient privacy, and I left the room. After a while I was called in again. Not sure why! I was told to stand at the nurses station, and after 2 minutes an entirely different nurse came in with a very harsh look on her face, and reprimanded me for standing at the nurses station, and told me to "go stand outside". Before I could explain, the consultant's helper came back and told this nurse that she had called me in. There was a brief exchange of whispers and uncertain glances and they both walked away. At this time I was completely confused! I was not sure why I was called in or what was going on. No one bothered to explain. After a while another staff came in and used the exact words "can I ask you stay outside" and as I walked out, I heard her say "off you pop" and some giggles coming from some other people (who I could not see) which I assume were staff. This scant respect, complete disregard, unprofessional attitude, lack of dignity towards a patient and their relative etc made me wonder why is the NHS paying millions for private hospitals. I have been visiting NHS hospitals all my life. Not one single hospital have I been treated with such disrespect and lack of a professional nature. I have not even had a delay of 40 minutes in any GP surgery so far. Shame to you Ramsay Care UK

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