I might have known!
Well, I still haven't had an appointment for a bone scan yet so I decided to ring Medical Physics dept at the Berks to see if they had had any such request which they hadn't. I then rang Dr Barrett's secretary again but got her answer machine. This time I left quite a terse message saying how I'd already left a message last week and it appeared that nothing had been done!
She rang me back 10 mins later and said that she had only just received the letter that day from Dr Maeve. I said I couldn't believe that a letter sent from Sue Ryder could get lost in the system for almost a week, surely it had arrived at the Berks by 9th January having been sent on approximately 6th or 7th. She then took another look and said well actually they did receive it Monday but Dr Barrett is on holiday until Tues 20th Jan. I asked why her Registrar couldn't action the request and firstly she said that she saw that I visited clinic on 31 December and no such request for a bone scan was made then and I said no, Dr Maeve McKeogh from Sue Ryder had suggested the bone scan as per her letter and as per my telephone message a week ago! She then went on to say that the Registrar was new and wasn't completely aware of my case, how rediculous. Do all decisions have to wait for Dr Barrett to return from holiday? As I envisaged, it could take weeks from Dr Maeve's suggestion for a bone scan until the actual time that I get one and in the meantime I'm in a lot of pain. I got a bit angry at this point and reiterated this to Dr B's secretary who suggested that she would try to get hold of the registrar to put a request in for the bone scan or it could be Monday or Tuesday when Dr B returned.
Within a couple of hours, Medical Physics were on the phone to me offering an appointment for a bone scan on Thursday 22 January.
It's amazing that you have to take all this into your own hands. If I'd waited until my clinic appointment next week, there would have been possibly a 3-4 week wait from the time Dr Maeve suggested a bone scan until the point that I had one, then I'd have to wait at least a week for the results although it could turn out to be 3 weeks if I wait until my next clinic appointment and then another 2 weeks before they do anything about the results (nearly 8 weeks!). In the meantime, I can't walk very well, I'm in a lot of pain which needs a lot of pain medication which have their own side effects, loss of appetite, too much sleep, not enough sleep, sickness etc etc.
She rang me back 10 mins later and said that she had only just received the letter that day from Dr Maeve. I said I couldn't believe that a letter sent from Sue Ryder could get lost in the system for almost a week, surely it had arrived at the Berks by 9th January having been sent on approximately 6th or 7th. She then took another look and said well actually they did receive it Monday but Dr Barrett is on holiday until Tues 20th Jan. I asked why her Registrar couldn't action the request and firstly she said that she saw that I visited clinic on 31 December and no such request for a bone scan was made then and I said no, Dr Maeve McKeogh from Sue Ryder had suggested the bone scan as per her letter and as per my telephone message a week ago! She then went on to say that the Registrar was new and wasn't completely aware of my case, how rediculous. Do all decisions have to wait for Dr Barrett to return from holiday? As I envisaged, it could take weeks from Dr Maeve's suggestion for a bone scan until the actual time that I get one and in the meantime I'm in a lot of pain. I got a bit angry at this point and reiterated this to Dr B's secretary who suggested that she would try to get hold of the registrar to put a request in for the bone scan or it could be Monday or Tuesday when Dr B returned.
Within a couple of hours, Medical Physics were on the phone to me offering an appointment for a bone scan on Thursday 22 January.
It's amazing that you have to take all this into your own hands. If I'd waited until my clinic appointment next week, there would have been possibly a 3-4 week wait from the time Dr Maeve suggested a bone scan until the point that I had one, then I'd have to wait at least a week for the results although it could turn out to be 3 weeks if I wait until my next clinic appointment and then another 2 weeks before they do anything about the results (nearly 8 weeks!). In the meantime, I can't walk very well, I'm in a lot of pain which needs a lot of pain medication which have their own side effects, loss of appetite, too much sleep, not enough sleep, sickness etc etc.
1 Comments:
At 8:35 PM, Dawn said…
You told me this would happen when we last spoke you said it would be weeks before you got your scan, sorry for the swearing but its bloody outrageous that they can't react quicker especially as you are in so much pain. Well done you for giving them a piece of your mind like you say its alright for them there not the one living with it. Anyway hope you get the results soon. Love Karenxxx
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