"Waiting time increase"

Following a very good appointment at Tiverton Hospital my wife was referred to the Orthopaedics department at Royal Devon and Exeter for an injection.

We were initially told that we would have to wait for around 8 weeks for the appointment, but after phoning to enquire as to what was happening a few weeks later, I was told that the wait would in fact be up to 16 weeks!

I feel like this is a very negative way to deal with appointments. To be suddenly told that we would have to wait an extra 8 weeks than originally told, without consultation, is taking the mickey.

I felt we were really given the mushroom treatment and kept in the dark - it would be much better if the appointments team contacted people to keep them informed of what's happening with appointments rather than waiting for them to ring up.