Posts tagged 'UHL Booking Office'

Booking Office multi-fail (no surprise there, then)

Posted by on June 21st 2022 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof, Name and Shame
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Sometimes I think that they do it just to get attention...

I attended Hambleton Suite clinic on 19th May for my Annual Review... full bloods, virology, Covid vaccine antibody response, height, weight, full valet, replace the wiper blades... you know the drill. Preliminary indications implied that all was well, so I left with an appointment to ATTEND on 9th June, when the full set of test results would be reviewed and discussed. Said appointment was written on my card and in their appointment book, and later on someone added the appointment to "the system".

But a week later I was feeling rough, so I called it in and they asked me to attend for a quick check-up. Nothing bad was found in the bloods, they said that I'd probably got some sort of minor virus infection, nothing more. They took the opportunity to run through the Annual Review test results, meaning that there was no longer any need for me to attend on 9th June, so that appointment was cancelled and another made for 6th July.

So far, so good. But then someone managed to cock it up...

On 2nd June I got a surprise text reminder from 07786 209254 (one of their system's text-based reminder services) for a TELEPHONE appointment... for the same time and day as the cancelled ATTEND appointment. As you can see, it took all of five minutes for me to cancel the already-cancelled appointment and for that to be both confirmed and spiced-up with a threat of discharge:

 

 

From that, you'd think that everything was back on track, but you'd be wrong.

On 7th June I received another text reminder, this time from NHS UHL (another one of their system's text-based reminder services), for the very same appointment that I'd re-cancelled only five days before via the other text service. NHS UHL texts don't permit replies, so I can't put them right:

 

 

It's yet another example of their dis-integrated system.

It's not often that I give up, but I have (arguably) better things to do than try to fix the unfixable.

I didn't bother with the re-cancelled appointment, and much to my disappointment they didn't carry out their threat to discharge me.

All it needed was a dose of common-sense

Posted by on April 27th 2022 in COVID-19, Health, or lack thereof
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When a system error at my GP's surgery ended up with me being given that fifth Covid-19 vaccination, just one week after I'd had my fourth, we suspected that it would screw up the various admin/record systems that are associated with the vaccination programme.

True to form, getting a Spring Booster jab has been an ordeal akin to jumping through fiery hoops.

When the Spring Booster programme started, I tried to book online. That failed, so I was advised to call 119 to discuss it with a real person. That person took all of the details and decided that I was due another jab, but one of the Haematology team would have to request it. I emailed the Hambleton Clinic Haemo docs to ask them to make that request.

Three weeks later and nothing had happened, so I asked them again during the telephone consultation that had been booked for 20th April (but which didn't actually happen until 21st April, as they'd missed me off the call-list). The haemo doc agreed that I was due another jab, and said that she'd make the required request ASAP.

That Haemo doc was true to her word... the next morning I was woken by a woman calling from the UHL Booking Office. Yes, the UHL Booking Office which fcuks up the parts that other booking offices can't reach. I explained that I'd had five jabs, she said that I'd meant four. I restated "five", she said that one of them would have been a flu jab. I re-restated "five" and then she imploded, told me that I couldn't possibly have had five jabs already, and said that she'd need to refer back to the requesting Haemo doc.

Monday morning... I contacted the UHL Booking Office again. They still couldn't book me in, but gave me the contact email address for VacHub. Dedicated Vaccination Hub staff. People who actually know what they're talking about. Within the hour I'd sent VacHub the whole story via email, and we spent a few hours exchanging info. The upshot was that after consulting a fair list of people, they couldn't jab me because their "Green Book" guidelines didn't allow it. They'd contact the requesting Haemo doc to inform her.

Well, that Green Book was like a red rag to a bull. Within the hour I'd read it, understood it, and used bits of it in email messages sent back to VacHub. The key bit was that antibody counts wane over time, that waning is not related to how close together the most-recent vaccinations had been given. I argued that they were so close together that they could be considered as one dose. Therefore, the key indicator for being boosted was how long ago that latest combi-dose had been given, and that was three months. The truth about the Green Book guidelines was that rather than not allowing me to have a sixth jab, it had no provision for anyone in my situation - and no go-to reference or process for dealing with anyone not fitting their "normal" profile.

Tuesday dawned, and I was called by the requesting Haemo consultant. She claimed that she'd assumed that I'd had only four jabs, and had based her request on that. When she'd actually checked my record and found that I'd had five jabs, she'd changed her mind. She explained it well, I saw her point of view, and I agreed that I'd given it my best shot and had lost this battle.

But today it all became clear. My use of Green Book reasoning had made some of the VacHub staff think again. They called me to explain. The VacHub staff don't access NHS records directly, they use NIVS (The National Immunisation & Vaccination System), and that system had no record of the GP system-error jab which I had on 28th January. Compare that to my TPP SystmOnline record (GP-based) which records all five jabs. We can't compare it with my proper full NHS record, as I have no access to that. Anyway, the data-flow's not ideal and a lot of it is one-way only - see here.

The upshot was that too many people had too many differing opinions based on which system they had access to. That's the NHS for you!

They decided that another jab would be safe, and less of a risk than a Covid-19 infection/hospitalisation, so they offered me a choice of jab appointments and venues.

Five hours later and I'd been jabbed again. That's SIX. And because the jabbing doctor applied a liberal dose of common-sense - he actually took the time to listen, think, record and discuss - we managed to get my jab-record back on track for any future round of boosters. In theory, there shouldn't be any more fiery hoops. Hats off to the VacHub staff, I say.

Read it and weep, Sarah. You said it couldn't be done...

 

 

You wait… and you wait… and then you go ape-shit

Posted by on March 28th 2022 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof, Name and Shame
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More on that MaxFax saga...

I called the UHL Fooking Office today, regarding that pair of appointments:

 

 

 

The phone-jockey said that the appointment for 29th March had been cancelled on the 24th... the same day that the 31st March appointment was generated.

Clearly they must think that I'm psychic, as the second letter doesn't say anything about any cancellation or postponement.

Then the phone-jockey claimed that on 24th March they sent out a separate letter regarding the cancellation. Now, I'd have thought that it would have been in the same postal run as the new appointment, and would have arrived here on Saturday 26th. Indeed, any sane person would have detailed the cancellation in the second appointment letter... or would have put both letters in the one envelope. But no, common-sense did not prevail.

So far I've seen neither hide nor hair of said cancellation letter, so I reckon I've been fed yet another helping of admin cop-out bullshit.

As I said, there really is no foreseeable end to the sorry tale of UHL Booking Office's ineptitude.

And yes, I understand that their "no tolerance anti-abuse policy" covers telephone conversations...

but I've got news for them...

I have a similar policy, mine covers abuse of my patience, and includes an anti-bullshit clause.

You wait… and you wait… and you wait…

Posted by on March 26th 2022 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof, Name and Shame
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The MaxFax saga goes on...

After way over a year of both my GDP and MaxFax leaving my LR7 to rot in place rather than treat it, MaxFax got around to extracting it on Sunday 6th February. The locum dental consultant did an epic job with inadequate (paediatric) dental tools, having to resort to drill, scalpel and brute force to remove about 20 bits of shattered molar roots, and putting in half a dozen stitches to close the wound. I was given antibiotics sufficient for five days, and sent home. In typical fashion, the letter from that clinic eschews the facts and states that the job was done on a Saturday, presumably meaning on the 5th February. Ho hum, no great shakes.

But that clinic letter also states that they would review me in "three to four weeks' time", so that would have been any day from Saturday 26th February to Sunday 6th March inclusive, right?

Wrong.

UHL Booking Office ignored the principles of the Gregorian Calendar that the rest of the western world has been using for nearly half a millennium, and decided that "three to four weeks' time" would mean Tuesday 22nd February. Four to twelve days too early, that calculation depending on more factors than I've got teeth.

At that review it was clear that the first lot of antibiotics hadn't prevented infection, so I left with a second course of them, and with the requirement for another review "in two weeks' time" to see if the infection had been cleared. So that would have been Tuesday 8th March, right?

Wrong again.

Try Tuesday 29th March. Exactly three weeks late:

 

 

Well, we have to take what we can get, so when the reminder text arrived on Tuesday 22nd March, I duly confirmed that I would attend:

 

 

All sorted, right?

Wrong yet again.

This arrived this morning:

 

 

Clearly it doesn't say that the Tuesday 29th clinic is cancelled or postponed, so I have to assume that it's a bona fide appointment for me to attend on Thursday 31st March.

As it stands, I need to attend twice in three days to have two different people look at the battle-scars from one extraction. It's utterly nonsensical.

There really is no foreseeable end to the sorry tale of UHL Booking Office's ineptitude.

Light blue touch-paper, retire to a safe distance.

Posted by on January 7th 2021 in A bit of a rant, Health, or lack thereof
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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.

 

Fannying around

Posted by on November 21st 2013 in Health, or lack thereof
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True to form, the Booking Centre staff managed to intentionally fcuk-up yet again...

By the time we'd left the house this morning, the thrice-promised letter of appointment hadn't been delivered. Undeterred, we turned up at Leicester Royal Infirmary well before the time arranged during the phone call with "Christine" c/o the Booking Centre and, as expected, I wasn't on the paper version of the clinic's patient list and my appointment wasn't "live" on their computer. What was on their computer was a marker saying that I'd cancelled the appointment. Hence no letter - in all probability it never existed, it was clear that the Booking Centre never had any intent to honour the arrangement.

I tell you, I don't know how I managed to hold on to any semblance of fair speech. It was yet another example of totally bureaucratic bullshit that is spouted regularly by some of the lying feckers in the Booking Centre, in particular the notorious "Christine", who no doubt attended the same School of Incompetence as Mr. Andrew Miller, the consultant who did my op and who, after I'd been admitted to the Emergency Ward a few days afterwards, misdiagnosed my condition as constipation and discharged me without treatment, saying that I should go home and eat prunes!

Of course, today's fiasco wasn't the fault of the clinic's desk-staff, so I couldn't let rip at her. She looked at the raft of bumped/cancelled appointment letters that I'd taken along "just in case", understood my angst, got on the blower, and somehow managed to "slot me in". She was a true professional - calm, caring, apologetic and pro-active - and I thanked her accordingly.

She told me that this meddling with the appointment system "happens a lot", that she took a lot of flak for it, and that she thought it wasn't a good way to treat people.

Hell, you don't say!

I won't bore you with the fine details of the consultation, suffice to say that the consultant seems to think that the treatment for anal skin-tags isn't ligation surgery, it's Imodium. Further to that, I'm now awaiting the results of a blood-test for, of all things, Coeliac Disease. It all sounds far-fetched to me, I believe that they're clutching at straws and that they're trying anything to avoid having to actually fix their mistakes.

And just to add insult to injury, I've been told that my anus looks like a vagina! Now that I CAN believe, and I suppose it could explain why the Colorectal Department finds it so satisfying to shaft me time and time again.

It's a good job I've still got my sense of humour, eh?
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