"Why is this site run privately when they obviously..."

What I liked

This was not an NHS Hospital in the usual sense but a private sector Physiotherapy MSK clinic under contract to the NHS. The service that I recieved from this part of Hundens lane Darlington ( which is ran seperately from the main unit and so I cannot comment on that) was nothing short of comical. If it was any other type of business it would have gone bust by now. There was nothing positive about this experience.

What could be improved

Staff did not communicate, my details were lost, my referal forms were not signed and hence I could not be seen until this mistake was rectified which took 3 weeks, I only saw the correct physio once from three meeting. The other two times I met with two different physio's who did not know my case or could not offer advice on what was going to happen as they didn't know how the system worked. Also one of these stand in Physios spoke very poor English, or should I say English with a very strong accent which made it very difficult to understand them. This would be especially troublesome for an elderly or hard of hearing patient. I was told numerous timers that I would be phoned back which never happened. I was also told my issue would be sorted on numerous occasions which also did not happen. These are just a few issues which could have been improved.

Anything else?

I have never had a poor NHS experience before and am a great believer in the health service, however on this occasion and in this particular setting I feel I was let down. This has caused me further complications to my case due to the extended period of time I have had to wait. All of the errors I have come up against could have easily been rectified and were either simple common sense, courtesy or clerical issues which should not happen.