Help Required - Outpatients Appointment at Salford Royal

[RobMCFC]

I'm hoping somebody can help here.

To cut a long story short, my wife has an appointment for a scan at the gastroenterology department at Salford Royal this weekend.
Whilst the appointment is confirmed, due to an admin cock-up, she hasn't received a letter.
My wife is in a right state because she thinks they are NOT going to let her in without first having had a COVID test.

You would not believe how hard it is to (a) actually get somebody on the phone and (b) when you do get somebody, they claim not to know anything and insist on putting you through to the gastroenterology department phone system (short story - two hours of waiting on two separate days, you eventually reach a "there is a problem and we are unable to process your call" message.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT - A always with these things - we found a "back door" phone number and managed to get some info five minutes after posting this! Anyway, it appears that you don't need a test.

Makes me laugh at all the moaning the NHS do about wasted appointments - I challenge anybody to try to get through to this department to cancel if they needed to! It appears to be a one-way system only.

MODS - feel free to delete.

 

[dadnlad]

ive been let into renal clinic recently first time for over a year no covid test required and nurses said covid patients within hospital very low. masks and sanitiser as everywhere else was required

 

[RobMCFC]

ive been let into renal clinic recently first time for over a year no covid test required and nurses said covid patients within hospital very low. masks and sanitiser as everywhere else was required

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. It wasn't whether the case numbers were low/high, it was just whether she'd be turned away without the test. Good to know it's not necessary.

 

[andyhinch]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. It wasn't whether the case numbers were low/high, it was just whether she'd be turned away without the test. Good to know it's not necessary.

I’ve been in outpatients a few times recently Macc general, never been asked for a test result, hope it goes well

 

[yerwot?]

hiding behind an automated phone software set-up that is not fit for purpose seems to be the de facto m.o. across the nhs. I had similar problems at SRH, who blamed my GP, who had blamed SRH, I turned up at the hospital expecting a bout of finger-pointing dodging and twisting, in fact it was the opposite, the staff on reception were helpful and apologetic, and were a credit to the NHS, achieved more in 5 minutes than hours on the computer going round in circles .
Hope this may be of use to you, turn up beforehand speak to reception and keep your fingers crossed for a decent outcome. Good luck.

 

[RobMCFC]

hiding behind an automated phone software set-up that is not fit for purpose seems to be the de facto m.o. across the nhs. I had similar problems at SRH, who blamed my GP, who had blamed SRH, I turned up at the hospital expecting a bout of finger-pointing dodging and twisting, in fact it was the opposite, the staff on reception were helpful and apologetic, and were a credit to the NHS, achieved more in 5 minutes than hours on the computer going round in circles .
Hope this may be of use to you, turn up beforehand speak to reception and keep your fingers crossed for a decent outcome. Good luck.

Thanks. My wife managed to get through to Pennine trust who helpfully put her through to her Salford colleagues, who were then able to give her the info she needed.

The phone system is unbelieveable: "You are 5th in the queue" - 15 mins later, "You are 4th in the queue" etc.
1 hour later, the phone buzzes and you get the "we can't help you" automated message.

What I don't understand is that it takes less than 10 seconds to deliver that message, so why if you are 5th in the queue do you have to wait for over an hour? It's a ****ing disgrace and there will be a letter of complaint when all this is over. There is basically no way of contacting the department you need to talk to so you have to get creative with who you phone.

 

[Rascal]

Thanks. My wife managed to get through to Pennine trust who helpfully put her through to her Salford colleagues, who were then able to give her the info she needed.

The phone system is unbelieveable: "You are 5th in the queue" - 15 mins later, "You are 4th in the queue" etc.
1 hour later, the phone buzzes and you get the "we can't help you" automated message.

What I don't understand is that it takes less than 10 seconds to deliver that message, so why if you are 5th in the queue do you have to wait for over an hour? It's a ****ing disgrace and there will be a letter of complaint when all this is over. There is basically no way of contacting the department you need to talk to so you have to get creative with who you phone.

Whilst I am sorry to hear about your wait and the anxiety it must have caused, one of the underlying reasons why phones do not get answered is rather obvious.

You hear time after time that the NHS has too many back room staff and resources should go the front line. The back room staff usually mentioned are people like a diversity manager on X amount of pounds which is done to make people think the NHS is overstaffed. They never mention that without back room staff like phone operators the front line is not as effective, it is like asking Pep to wash the kit after every game we play. All the staff are important to the organisation. Sadly the more you here the line resources to the frontline, the less resources will be allocated to the people who support the frontline which renders the frontline less effective. It is fucking madness, but that is the Government for you, they are are fucking mad.

Like anything though, you need to know your way around the system, I would not struggle like you have done at SRFT not because I am special or anything but because i know how to get through the system and I would contact my specialists secretary or even speak to one of my Doctors through twitter DM.

If you want to complain and I encourage it write to PALS at SRFT , they are excellent usually.

Covid tests are not needed at SRFT, the hospital itself is very quiet at the moment, especially the outpatients departments as a majority of consultations are being done by phone. Remember though you can specify a face to face appointment and on arrival at SRFT you will be given a face mask and be asked to wash your hands, Access is limited to only three doors in the main section of the hospital and you may have to queue to get in. It is also a great time to have a face to face appointment or go for a scan as the car parks are so quiet due to there being no visiting allowed. Scans BTW are now being more spaced out so are more likely to be done on time. My last scan they actually did five minutes early as i was the only person there and i had xrays which again i was the only person there.

 

[RobMCFC]

Whilst I am sorry to hear about your wait and the anxiety it must have caused, one of the underlying reasons why phones do not get answered is rather obvious.

You hear time after time that the NHS has too many back room staff and resources should go the front line. The back room staff usually mentioned are people like a diversity manager on X amount of pounds which is done to make people think the NHS is overstaffed. They never mention that without back room staff like phone operators the front line is not as effective, it is like asking Pep to wash the kit after every game we play. All the staff are important to the organisation. Sadly the more you here the line resources to the frontline, the less resources will be allocated to the people who support the frontline which renders the frontline less effective. It is fucking madness, but that is the Government for you, they are are fucking mad.

Like anything though, you need to know your way around the system, I would not struggle like you have done at SRFT not because I am special or anything but because i know how to get through the system and I would contact my specialists secretary or even speak to one of my Doctors through twitter DM.

If you want to complain and I encourage it write to PALS at SRFT , they are excellent usually.

Covid tests are not needed at SRFT, the hospital itself is very quiet at the moment, especially the outpatients departments as a majority of consultations are being done by phone. Remember though you can specify a face to face appointment and on arrival at SRFT you will be given a face mask and be asked to wash your hands, Access is limited to only three doors in the main section of the hospital and you may have to queue to get in. It is also a great time to have a face to face appointment or go for a scan as the car parks are so quiet due to there being no visiting allowed. Scans BTW are now being more spaced out so are more likely to be done on time. My last scan they actually did five minutes early as i was the only person there and i had xrays which again i was the only person there.

Cheers - all good to know. Like I said, we eventually found out the answer, but we are left with a feeling of frustration at something that would have been handled in a far more simple manner. How about a general policy on the website, for example?

I spoke to the specialist's secretary myself. Got straight through and asked her about whether a COVID test would be required. Answer: "I don't know".

I then told her about the woes getting through to the department and she said "I know, it's a nightmare, we can't get through most of the time either". I didn't fancy pointing out that she worked in the department I was trying to contact, but I guess that I would have been told that it was a different sub-department anyway.

It doesn't surprise me that the government might be a the heart of the problem and anybody who has to work with them has my sympathies (and I don't even consider myself a political person).

Also, forgot to say that we tried the Patient Liason phone number specified on the Salford Royal website. When we rang the number, a recorded message said that this number doesn't cover Salford Royal. The whole system is an utter shambles.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

hiding behind an automated phone software set-up that is not fit for purpose seems to be the de facto m.o. across the nhs.

Its not just the NHS but multi nationals too.
Going through my bank statement last week I realised i had been paying $5.99 a month for the past 2 years for ESPN+ that I had never watched.
Called ESPN up and they said it was paid via Google Play and to contact them.
No way on their website was there a cancel subscription button and the phone number was just dead end messages redirecting you to the website.
But if you wanted to call them to advertise on Google, the real life people couldn't answer the phone quick enough! Called them twice and when informing them I wanted to cancel they couldn't help other than direct me to the website and shrugged their shoulders when I said there was nothing there to cancel it on the website.
In the end I called the bank and had them stop the monthly payments.

I digressed. Hope it goes well for your wife OP

 

[stonerblue]

I'm hoping somebody can help here.

To cut a long story short, my wife has an appointment for a scan at the gastroenterology department at Salford Royal this weekend.
Whilst the appointment is confirmed, due to an admin cock-up, she hasn't received a letter.
My wife is in a right state because she thinks they are NOT going to let her in without first having had a COVID test.

You would not believe how hard it is to (a) actually get somebody on the phone and (b) when you do get somebody, they claim not to know anything and insist on putting you through to the gastroenterology department phone system (short story - two hours of waiting on two separate days, you eventually reach a "there is a problem and we are unable to process your call" message.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT - A always with these things - we found a "back door" phone number and managed to get some info five minutes after posting this! Anyway, it appears that you don't need a test.

Makes me laugh at all the moaning the NHS do about wasted appointments - I challenge anybody to try to get through to this department to cancel if they needed to! It appears to be a one-way system only.

MODS - feel free to delete.

No test needed to gain entrance the four times i've been during lockdown.
Actually very easy there now. No queuing for car park or anything else.

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Cheers - all good to know. Like I said, we eventually found out the answer, but we are left with a feeling of frustration at something that would have been handled in a far more simple manner. How about a general policy on the website, for example?

I spoke to the specialist's secretary myself. Got straight through and asked her about whether a COVID test would be required. Answer: "I don't know".

I then told her about the woes getting through to the department and she said "I know, it's a nightmare, we can't get through most of the time either". I didn't fancy pointing out that she worked in the department I was trying to contact, but I guess that I would have been told that it was a different sub-department anyway.

It doesn't surprise me that the government might be a the heart of the problem and anybody who has to work with them has my sympathies (and I don't even consider myself a political person).

Also, forgot to say that we tried the Patient Liason phone number specified on the Salford Royal website. When we rang the number, a recorded message said that this number doesn't cover Salford Royal. The whole system is an utter shambles.

A link on their main website to this would be useful...https://www.pat.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/covid-19-attending-our-hospitals.htm

 

[RobMCFC]

A link on their main website to this would be useful...https://www.pat.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/covid-19-attending-our-hospitals.htm

Indeed - except there is some info on there that contradicts what were were told on the phone.

It says that you need a letter and ID if you have an appointment - quite reasonable.
Although the letter has finally arrived this lunchtime, the lady on the phone said "don't worry, you won't need your letter".

Anyway, thanks to everybody for taking the time to reply.

 

[Rascal]

Also, forgot to say that we tried the Patient Liason phone number specified on the Salford Royal website. When we rang the number, a recorded message said that this number doesn't cover Salford Royal. The whole system is an utter shambles.

You can write to PALS

PALS (srft.nhs.uk)

PALS
Salford Royal Foundation Trust
Stott Lane
Salford
M6 8HD

Or you can visit them, they have an office in the new building. If you use the entrance from the Main Road its on your left. Sorry I dont know the opening times.