Care Opinion

Missed appointment

Posted By Joe283

"Missed appointment"

About: South West Acute Hospital / Diabetes Services

(as the patient),

I was to have a consultation at 9:30 with a dietitian by phone from SWAH. It started with a phone call the previous week (again a no number call ). I accepted, person on phone polite and professional but would not give me the number they were calling from.

They told me the app letter wouldn't be out in time. I know it's snail mail but really, snails must be pensioners now! I then received a text to remind me of app (very good I thought) but at 9:30 I didn't receive a call.

I read in most hospital waiting rooms that a missed app costs £170. Just wonder if I get it now. I would donate it to help put numbers on phones in hospitals. 

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Responses

Response from Lesley Hamilton, Diabetes Network Manager, Acute, WHSCT 17 months ago
We have made a change
Lesley Hamilton
Diabetes Network Manager, Acute,
WHSCT

Submitted on 06/07/2023 at 11:46
Published on Care Opinion at 11:53

picture of Lesley Hamilton

Dear Joe283,

My name is Lesley Hamilton and I am the Diabetes Network Manager in the Western Trust. Thank you for taking the time to share your comments and I was sorry to hear about your missed appointment. Usually appointment notifications are sent by letter however when we are offering appointments at short notice the clerical team make contact by telephone. The contact number used for the call from clerical team was on the hospital system (PAS) and this number was used to generate the reminder text notification. At the time of your appointment the diabetes dietitian was using a different system, the NI electronic care record, to access details such as your recent blood results and prescribed medications. We now realise that the contact number listed for you on the NIECR is different to the number on PAS and this was the reason she was not able to contact you. The clinic did take place that day and we are very sorry that we were not able to contact you with the correct number.

Different types of clinic are now offered in the diabetes team and as well as face to face clinics, telephone and video consultations are offered. The updating of correct contact numbers for PAS system is part of our administrative process however the contact numbers on NIECR are generated from GP systems. At times of clinics the health care professional usually only has access to NIECR and the team will ensure to cross match the contact details and ensure the correct number is available for the time of clinic. I have highlighted your experience with the team and we will learn from this in order to make improvements.

Please accept my apologies for your missed appointment and we will contact you again to offer an alternative clinic.

Telephone calls from hospital locations usually come from a withheld number. Staff may be in various locations for clinics and there may be different extension numbers used. There is a direct dial number for clerical team and please accept my apologies that this number was not provided for you.

My email address is Lesley.Hamilton@westerntrust.hscni.net or direct number to Diabetes Network office is 028 71611354

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