"My GP sent for an urgent appointment ..."

Anything else?

My GP sent for an urgent appointment to QE II Hospital. I contacted the Gynocology Dept early Oct 08 and was told I should get an appointment before Nov 08. On 30 Oct 08, I contacted the department again and was told that a letter was sent to me on 27 Oct 08 informing me that my appointment was on 28 Oct 08. To date I have not received any letter from the hospital. When asked why I or my GP was not contacted by phone for such short notice, I was told that they contacted my GP and they did not have my tel no. This is not true as many times my GP has contacted me by phone several times. Though the hospital administrators knew that I will not be attending the 28 Oct 08 appt as I will not receive their letter on time, they did not make any effort to rebook another appointment for me. If I had not contacted them today, they would not have made another appointment for me. This is very distressing to me as a patient. I have waited too long going through lots of blood tests, scanning and so on before the GP could make up her mind to refer me to the hospital. The GP made this appointment request on 16 September 08. Because I missed an appointment via no fault of mine, I am having to wait until mid Nov 08 for the next appointment. The 18 weeks consultation period was introduced to give patients greater confidence in health system. Such errors, negligence and a non apologic mannerism from staff is not very helpful and will only bring the Trust reputation down.