"Unhappy with Tameside booking office"

Arrived for an 11.15 appointment with the diabetic clinic and waited until 11.45 only to be told that they were going to be 1 hour later due to what I believe was the incompetance of the appointment booking office. In effect they double booked and so the diabetic clinic and staff were put in the position of having to try and deal with 40+ patients rather than 20+. This is the second time in succession that this has happened.

It's my view that the booking office cancel or change appointments at will with little or no notice to the patient. Indeed I myself was referred back to my GP because the booking office tried to claim that I had not attended an appointment which as it turned out they themselves cancelled?

It appears that they are unable to appreciate that we as patients also have lives outside of our respective illnesses/disabilities and seem to think that it will be ok for the patient to wait around, nor does it feel they take into account the travel and parking costs incurred in order to attend said appointment.

Consequently information gathered by the patient for the consultant and vice versa becomes outdated and obsolete, This also means that when appointments are changed at the last minute it is the patient who suffers because it generally means a further 1-2 month wait before a consultant is seen. So how can the patient be expected to maintain a good standard of general health? And more so how can the consultant be expected to ensure that the standard is maintained?

I attended Tameside HQ and requested to see the chief executive in order to seek an explanation however I was told they were unavailable and referred to another member of staff, who although somewhat bureaucratic in their manner did attempt to rectify my problem

Personally I am not happy with Tameside Hospital and I am going to take action to transfer my medical needs elsewhere.