Matthew's Journal

I try and avoid grumbling about the NHS - I'm generally of the view that it makes a BALGE effort at a difficult job. It has annoyed me today, though.

I need a referral to a hospital for some diagnostic work. My GP tells me some paperwork will come through the post, and that I might as well go to the local University hospital. Today, said paperwork arrives. It has an appointment number and a "password", as well as my 3 "choices" of clinic, and a website where I can get "information to help you make your choice of alternative".

The website doesn't work - it refuses point blank to talk to my web-browser. Surely we learned in about 1997 that you offer people something, if necessary with a caveat "this might not look so pretty". So,I try the NHS website proper. That will at least show me the location of my three choices (the paperwork conveniently fails to tell me where the George Eliot Hospital is); much of the other useful data is "not available yet". No-where can I find out anything I might want to know like: who the specialist is, what their post-op complication rates are, what the waiting time's like, what's the food like, etc., etc.

So, I make my Hobson's choice, and call the University Hospital. I wait for 3 or 4 minutes while the person apologises for "the new systems a bit slow", having taking all my details again (surely the referral must have told them where I live???). The first they can do me is 5th September - a fair way off, but *shrug*, it's nothing urgent. The first couple of weeks in September, though, atreic and I are planning on being away, so I ask if I could have something a little later. "Well, I can only offer you dates up to the 7th of September. If you want something later than that, you'll have to make an appointment now, and re-book it later".

WTF? In what way is this a sensible system? I'd rather they'd spent less money on the illusion of choice and instead had an appointment-booking system that's fit for purpose. As it is, I'm going to get through a load of mostly-useless paperwork, have to make another appointment later, and then presumably get the same paperwork a second time.