"Poor coordination between staff"

In August 2014 my wife saw a GP for a fairly routine investigation. When the symptoms persisted we paid for further tests. We were then given a further appointment and arrived at the hospital to find we had been booked in with a senior consultant. The letter explaining this only arrived after the appointment. On meeting the consultant we expected to be informed of the results of the tests - they didn't have these results and was not aware of which tests had been done. We had no complaint about the consultation - other than the non-availability of the test results - it just seemed a pointless exercise. We then saw our GP again who did have the results - there were no problems and my wife's symptoms had largely gone anyway. We paid our bill on leaving the hospital and since this included tests and the GP fee, we assumed everything was paid up. A month later a bill arrived from the consultant for 180 pounds. This came as a real blow to us financially - it's 10% of our monthly income (we have four children) for an appointment that was booked without our informed consent to meet a consultant who did not have certain information critical to the consultation. I queried it with the consultant but got no response, other than a message that the bill would stand. We've now found the money to cover the bill and have sent a cheque for payment. I found the BMI facilities and provision good overall but based on this experience, the communication between different branches within the hospital is woeful. I would strongly recommend insisting on a full breakdown of costs before agreeing to any treatment and making sure that any appointments made are booked with your full informed consent and absolutely necessary. My wife and I certainly won't be going back to this particular hospital.