April 2015: I am a regular patient for INR blood tests at the phlebotomy clinic in the Rainbow Unit at Horsham Hospital.
The queuing and waiting times first thing in the morning since the ticketed system was introduced have been getting worse and are now at a ridiculous level.
The unit does not start testing until 8am. At 7:15am there were several people waiting outside the unit for it to open to ensure that they were early in the queue because they had to get to work. The doors to the unit waiting room were unlocked to allow people to sit down at 7:30, by which time there were 15 people waiting. By the time the tickets were placed in the machine to allow us to take them there were 25 people present, including elderly and disabled, and there was a scrum to take tickets regardless of when people had arrived, resulting in upset, arguments and annoyance.
When the unit opened at 8am there were 80 people waiting with, of course, insufficient seats for all. This is pitiably poor organisation. At the very least, why can't tickets be in place, or put in the dispenser, when the doors are unlocked? Or is that a case of '"jobs worths"?
Is anyone reviewing this system with the intention of improving it to make it, at the minimum, fit for purpose? Or are we to be told that we simply have to lump it?
"Walk-in waiting times and early morning scrums"
About: Horsham Hospital / Phlebotomy Horsham Hospital Phlebotomy RH12 2DR
Posted by tjsussex (as ),
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See more responses from Michael Rayment
Update posted by tjsussex (the patient) 9 years ago
See more responses from Michael Rayment
Update posted by tjsussex (the patient) 8 years ago