"Departments don't communicate with each other -..."

A close relative needed a procedure which required a MRI scan and antibiotics beforehand. Due to an error by the hospital the patient was admitted for treatment in the wrong order and the operation cancelled just as he was on the operating table and about to be given the anaesthetic. Therefater, trying to get the various departments to co-ordinate required actions was unbelievably frustrating - 63 minutes waiting to get to the front of the telephone queue before then being trasferred elsewhere. The mistakes of this hospital have cost us over £70 in additional petrol and fares plus immense frustration and upset. The consultants may be good but the back-office administrative procedures are uncoordinated and shambolic: their answer to everything is 'come in and see us' but every visit is a 30 miles round trip and we both work full-time.