"unacceptable wait times and zero communication"

on behalf of my mother, who is currently awaiting treatment.

i'm trying very hard not to put too much pressure on the nhs service but the service provided by lister hospital is unacceptable. my mum has two herniated disks and has been in constant pain for over 18 months now. she's been to the gp countless times and it took months to get an appointment with a specialist which she finally received in november. she was recommended for steroid injections and was told she would have an appointment for this in 6-9 weeks. well it's almost 12 weeks later and she's still waiting. she's trying so hard to go to work and get on with her life, scared at what the pain medication is doing to her longterm but continuing on because she doesn't want to be a burden. she's worked as much as possible, but there are days she can't move because the pain is so horrible. i'm at a loss of what i can do to help and i think anyone can understand how horrible it is seeing a loved one in pain and not being able to fix it.

she called the department and they told her that her expected treatment date of 15th of march will not be met because the wait list is too large. she had to chase for 2 days to get this information because nobody bothered to write a letter explaining this, despite her being told it would be 6-9 weeks for an appointment. and has been given no indication of when her new expected treatment time will be. the administration staff are rude and unhelpful, and it's like you're a burden to them.

a woman that has been in chronic pain for over a year should not have to suffer like this with no idea of when she will finally. i understand that it is a hospital with a lot of patients to see and the health department is under a lot of pressure but this is still unacceptable. the fact there is zero communication and when you try to call you're passed from sullen receptionist to sullen receptionist with no clear answer is just poor customer service.

what do we have to do to get answers? this is a woman who is doing everything she can to continue working and living her life. not once has she ever thought about stopping work and claiming benefits, she just wants to get on, get the injections and complete her physio. but it's beginning to look like this is never going to happen since nobody can be bothered to let us know.

i've always been proud to be british and pay my taxes. i'm proud to support the doctors who i can see are doing their job as best they can. but i'm sickened by the management in this hospital and by the unresponsive consultants