"Appointments at Eastbourne Hospital "

I suffered from haemorrhoids, at the end of July my condition worsened, stepped up a gear, got very messy, unpleasant and painful.

I went to my doctor, he treated me and wrote to my local hospital, Eastbourne, for an urgent appointment, asking for me to be seen by the end of the month.

After three weeks I had heard nothing from Eastbourne, I went back to my doctor to find out what was happening. He confirmed that he had written to Eastbourne just over three weeks ago. He went through the options with me. As my condition was getting worse, we decided to try another hospital instead of Eastbourne. Using online booking he booked me an appointment with another hospital for just under a fortnight away (for the beginning of September). He said that he would cancel the Eastbourne appointment.

About five days later, my Doctors practice called to say that Eastbourne would not cancel the original appointment, as it was already in their system. They assured me that the appointment should be with me soon, I should contact Eastbourne directly to cancel when I received its letter. I waited, another week, just before my other appointment I received an appointment from Eastbourne.

From start to finish it took Eastbourne Hospital nearly five weeks just to make an appointment. To add insult to injury, the appointment, when it arrived was for November: hardly urgent.

I have just returned from the other hospital (the later appointment) been treated and discharged. Had I relied upon Eastbourne I would be still be waiting, taking up NHS time and money with visits to my doctor, and would still be untreated, possibly with the prospect of not seeing anyone or starting treatment for several months.

In my case, I cannot believe Eastbourne Hospital was so slow and inefficent compared to its peers for processing appointments; I cannot believe that it is possible to book an appointment and get treated by another hospital in less time than it takes Eastbourne to process an appointment.