"Inefficient and wasteful"

Well that's how it strikes me. The hospital seems to run without admin staff. You turn up and find no receptionist. You have to flag down passing staff or walk into rooms where treatment is being undertaken to find out what's going on. Appointment times are meaningless, if you've managed to track one down in the first place. Phones go unanswered and most don't even bother to put answering machines on. While undergoing treatment you can expect other confused patients to walk in. Clinical staff are constantly interrupted and you may find that you don't get the advice you need. Follow-up letters have the wrong extension. PALS have an answering machine on and never get back to you. (So ignore the responses here that tell you to get in touch.) This approach is a waste of everyone's time. That said, the clinical staff were nice and did their best. Complain -- it's the only way that we can hope to get something done about this.