Time and again I've told both the GP and the haematology consultants that neither can access, or be bothered to access, the records of the other when it comes to my meds, my clinical notes, my test results or my appointments. Time and again they have refuted my assertion. Time and again I've provided proof (and there's a lot of it), but they still insist that there's no comms issue.
You may well ask: "where's he going with this?"
Well, here's the latest. I'll try to break it into bite-size chunks so that it's easy to process (yes, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust Booking Office, I'm aiming this mainly at you)...
Last year, Leicester Glenfield set me up with a cardiology follow-up clinic, I was to go in to see The Professor on Wednesday 13th January 2021 @ 11:15. A few weeks back I got a letter telling me to stay at home, they would do a phone clinic instead, time and date unchanged.
Well, that's all fine and dandy for them, but seeing as I have to attend Leicester Royal for a haematology clinic at 11:30 the same day, I won't be staying at home, I'll probably still be driving to Leicester at 11:15. I've informed both Glenfield and the Royal, but so far nothing has changed.
Clearly they can't work together as a team even though they are both parts of the same NHS Trust, and allegedly share the same appointments database, but I've become used to banging my head against hard surfaces while trying to get them to wake up and smell the coffee.
But this afternoon I lost it big-time...
The postie delivered yet another NHS-branded envelope. I was hoping that it would be an invitation to get the COVID-jab, or maybe even a rearranged appointment for the cardio clinic, but no, it's an appointment for "MRI Internal auditory meatus Both".
And yes, you've guessed it, the appointment is set for Wednesday 13th. This one is at 08:00 and it's at Hinckley & Bosworth Community Hospital.
One morning, three appointments, three hospitals, one NHS Trust with no coordination. The front-line staff are heroic, but the booking admins are appalling.
Oh, and one more thing. My records state that I don't react well to the contrast agent that they'll probably want to put into me for the MRI scan, I usually end up having rigors, oxygen and a hospital bed for the night. That'll banjax the rest of the day good and proper.
On the 13th, if anyone tries to pull me over to tell me that I'm breaking the stay-at-home laws, there might be fireworks.
