"Staff did not pass on any of the 3 messages left..."

What I liked

Early this year I had an outpatients appointment with a cardiology consultant. Because of a sudden family bereavement I had to cancel the appointment. I telephoned, in advance of my appointment, and left three messages, each time asking for my call to be returned to confirm the cancellation had been made.

I did not receive a confirmation, but I later received a letter stating that I had been discharged because I had not attended the appointment. I write this comment because I would have been one of the 10% of the outpatient statistics showing patients who did not turn up. Had a better system been in place, i.e. the answer machine listened to and acted upon this situation would not have arisen.

What could be improved

Receorded messages on answer machine acted on.