"No joined up thinking regarding clinic letters"

I would like to raise the issue of patients receiving copies of their clinic letters, as every clinical department I have been under the care of, has their own procedure regarding this matter. Some departments such as Cardiology and Neurology, tend to automatically copy patients in. Others, such as Rheumatology and Orthopedics don't, but if you ring their Patient Pathway office and ask for a copy, there isn't usually a problem in getting a copy of the clinic letter. However, it is a different story with the Gastroenterology department., who seem to make it more awkward for patients to get a copy of their clinic letter. I was told that if I wanted to be copied into the clinic letter, I would have to let the Doctor know during my outpatient appointment, which I did. They even wrote something down in my notes. It didn't ,make any difference, as I was still not copied in and had to make 4 phone calls to the Gastroenterology department. Each time I rang, I felt like I was being fobbed off. On several occasions I was told the letter had to be authorized by the Doctor, before a copy could be sent to me. I had to wait about 4 weeks, before I finally received a copy. It shouldn't be that hard to get a copy of something that is written about you. As I had forgotten to ask the Doctor for a copy of the clinic letter at my 2nd outpatient appointment, I emailed them a few days later with the request. Again, I have been on the phone to the Gastroenterology department and more then 4 weeks after my appointment, still no clinic letter. Apparently the Consultant has been on holiday for 2 weeks, but why couldn't they sign their letters off before they went on leave? Even my GP hasn't received their copy.

According to the NHS Choices website, " A couple of weeks after your hospital appointment you should receive a letter with a summary of your consultation. In this letter the consultant will once more describe what was discussed on the day and explain what the next steps are". This is not happening in every department in St Helier Hospital. It appears I shouldn't even have to ring the relevant department for a copy of the clinic letter. Either it should be sent out automatically, or a separate letter should be written by the consultant to the patient. As this would mean writing 2 letters, which equals more work, just sending the patient a copy of the clinic letter is easier and less time consuming.

There is no joined up thinking, every department should be automatically copying patients into clinic letters across the whole hospital. This is good clinical practice that isn't being followed and should be looked into as a matter of urgency.