"Poor communication"

I attended RAH for CT scan. On the day I was very well looked after by the radiographers,   Gail and Gerri,  who were friendly, caring, and professional. I had some concerns about the procedure as I have some allergies and had reacted to an intravenous dye in the past but they discussed this with the doctor and we agreed to go ahead with this scan using the dye and I was pleased to say that I had no adverse reaction. I was reassured that my concerns had been addressed and that the final decision re use of dye was mine.

The scan itself was very straighforward, and I was kept in the department for a while after it to ensure that I didn't have a subsequent adverse reaction. When Gail was satisfied that I was well she gave the okay for me to go home. The whole process took only about an hour. I was very happy with how I was treated by all involved on the day.

I found the communication with the hospital prior to the appointment unacceptable.  I was contacted by phone midweek before my appointment and told that I would be having a CT scan the following Monday, and that instructions and medication would arrive by post, and that this would be confirmed by phone on the Friday. I did receive the medication and instructions, but they were incomplete and inaccurate. The instructions stated that I had been sent four 50 mls bottles of medication: wrong - I got two of 100mls. The instructions tell you to dilute the meds but there is no indication of the proportion of water to use in the dilution

I had been told by phone on Friday to start the meds on Saturday and had read the instructions re diet but they had no instructions for how to dilute the meds, either. On Saturday morning I phoned the RAH main switchboard and asked to speak to someone about prep meds for a CT scan - my call was transferred to somewhere dealing with appointment times! I called the main switchboard again and asked to speak to someone in the Pharmacy as I had a query about meds for a CT scan. This time the switchboard operator actually listened to what I was saying and tried to put me through to the CT dept. It took her 3 attempts to get an answer but she finally got me through to CT/Xray and I spoke to staff who aren't CT scan trained but had enough common sense and initiative to find the information that I needed. They were very friendly, helpful and reassuring and agreed with me that the instructions were not adequate.

Prep for a CT Scan is time critical so it is essential that full instructions are sent out in time for them to be actioned - patients should not have to chase up information at all, never mind at the weekend when the relevant staff are unavailable. It's bad enough being unwell without this extra unnecessary hassle! I would be very happy to review the wording of information sent out to ensure that this does not happen in future. 

Another issue is that the diet instructions do not take account of vegetarian or vegan patients. Come on, we're living in C21st and not the dark ages - it shouldn't be beyond your capabilities to come up with alternatives to meat, chicken and fish, especially when cheese is one of the foods to avoid! Do you expect us veggies to exist of fresh air and light?