"Day Treatment Centre"

The day before my lumbar puncture appointment I received a phone call from a member of staff who said if it was Mr X speaking. I, as Miss (and my name was not the one stated), replied it was the wrong number after she refused to disclose who she was. She then asked my telephone number and thereafter asked me to confirm my name. She apologised and then asked whether I would attend. On the day of the appointment, I met the assistant, who had rung me the day before. She apologised once again for her mistake and said she was unsure whether I was Mr or Miss. This does not explain where the actual name X came from which could be seen to break confidentiality! During the procedure the care provided by the doctor and medical student was excellent. However the frequent interruptions from the assistant were wholly unnecessary as she told the consultant what not to do due to her own misunderstandings. Having written this the assistant was quite friendly. After the lumbar puncture procedure I had a VEP test. However there were a few hours of waiting between both appointments which is understandable. The assistant showed a relative who was accompanying me where the location of the VEP test would be while I was under observation. The observation was supposed to last one hour but it felt like I was forgotten as after an hour I was still in the hospital bed. My relative asked a nurse who said she was unable to help as the area was for 2 clinics and I was not under her care. She very kindly tried to find out what time I should be discharged. However the assistant was nowhere to be seen. After a while another assistant later arrived and checked my blood pressure and let me go. My relative told me how we could get to the VEP clinic and that the assistant said if we could not find our way we could ask someone. To get to the location we followed the instructions given but we realised we had not been given the name of the location- only instructions. We asked several staff members and we eventually ended up at the bottom of a corridor. My back was hurting and my relative was not happy. We asked a nurse to help us find our way. She used the phone at the corridor to ring the Day Treatment Centre and told us someone was coming. My relative said the nurse could leave as she was going home after her shift. After a few minutes the assistant, who had phoned me the day before, arrived with another member of staff (no need for this) and exclaimed very loudly "Where have you been?!". My relative replied that she had asked staff and they directed us to where we were. As the nurse had said we had to be in the EEG my relative suggested to the assistant she should have just said EEG as there were signs for guidance. The assistant said us getting lost was "not her problem" even though we did as she said and asked others. She even said she said the word EEG- a blatant lie! Appalling quality of care from a highly unprofessional member of staff!