"As Usual - Awful Experience"

I have never ever complained about a Hospital before but have had the misfortune of visiting Barnet Hospital several times this year and each time it has been awful. Most recently I had to have an Ultra Sound Scan and X-Ray on my ankle which is swollen and very painful and my groin.

Before my appointment on a Saturday, I phoned the hospital to find out when I could have the X-Ray, the Switchboard Operator was rude, unhelpful and very impatient. As this is not the first time I have had to speak with the switchboard and the experience being the same each time it didn't really come as much of a surprise.

I was told there was no X-Ray machine working, I could email them or go somewhere else. Nice.

Then on the Saturday for my Ultra Sound Scan, I arrived on time booked in at the reception where the receptionist was unbelievably unhelpful. The receptionist could barely be bothered to speak to me or anyone else for that matter and sarcastically told me to take a seat while making a gesture at the huge amount of patience waiting to be seen and all having to stand while the clinic ran very, very late.

When I was eventually seen by the Radiologist, my groin was hurriedly scanned and I had to tell both the Radiologist and the nurse more than 4 times that my ankle and lower limb was meant to be scanned too, but they wouldn't listen, kept talking over the top of me and just rushing me out the door until in the end I had to be really blunt and remain in the room stating again that my ankle needed scanning. At first they argued and said it didn't and then at my protest looked on their computer and said Oh yes it does. When looking at my ankle the Radiologist took a large intake of breath and said 'when did you damage the tendons?' so I replied and said ' Is it tendon damage then?' to which the Radiologist replied ' No it's all fine.'

The Radiologist had scanned it for seconds - in the wrong area, looked shocked at what they had seen and then rushed me out the door saying all was ok, which it is not.

One week later, I am awake again at 5am, my ankle is swollen, I am in so much pain I don't know what to do with my self and I am so disappointed at my treatment. I am going to have to go back to my GP (more waste of time and money) as I don't know what to do now. I am seriously fed up and having also visited Barnet previously this year for a heart attack and angiogram which had equal amount of sloppiness in treatment I need to think long and hard what I am going to do about this as clearly this hospital is a mess in every department I have visited this year, A&E is unorganised chaos and not in a professional context at all, the Cardiology ward and staff have no idea what each other are doing and joke around at the nurses station with equipment like they are toys, the discharge programme is a confusing and a contradiction of everything you are told. Never again!