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Inefficient service

Posted By AnginaGuy

"Inefficient service"

About: Craigavon Area Hospital / Rapid Angina Assessment Clinic

(as the patient),

If ever there was a contradictory name for an NHS function, this is it.

Having originally been told that a cardiac CT would take 10-11 weeks I decided to go with the timeline, even though I have private health insurance. I was advised that if I did choose private care the NHS would be unable to use any scan results which swayed my decision!

Now, 2 months later, I've been told there's a further 9 month waiting list for an initial scan.

The letter giving me the good news refers to 'today' as end of February 25 which means it's taken 5 weeks to get to me.

Could this service be any less rapid or inefficient? I doubt it.

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Responses

Response from Diane McGeown, Advanced Nurse Practitioner Cardiology, Medicine and Unscheduled Care Directorate, Southern Health and Social Care Trust 4 days ago
We are preparing to make a change
Diane McGeown
Advanced Nurse Practitioner Cardiology, Medicine and Unscheduled Care Directorate,
Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 31/03/2025 at 14:21
Published on Care Opinion at 14:23

Dear AnginaGuy

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. I sincerely apologise for the frustration and inconvenience you have experienced with our service. The Rapid Angina Assessment Clinic (RAAC) aims to assess patients within two weeks of referral to our service. Unfortunately we do not have control over the waiting lists for cardiac CT scans, which are managed separately by the Radiology Department.

I also wish to apologise for the delay in you receiving your letter. I have addressed this issue with our Administration Manager, and we are implementing changes to ensure such delays do not occur in the future.

For clarity also, may I outline that when a patient decides to choose private investigations, the responsibility for follow-up care lies with the Referrer of that private investigation, rather than RAAC.

Once again, I am sorry for the difficulties you have faced.

Kind regards

Diane

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