"Atrocious administration "

Advised needed blood tests and brain scan, possibly dementia(husband). Underwent surgery based cognitive tests and told need to be referred for further evaluation. Advised would be called in for bloods. Waited 3 weeks, no call for blood test. Chased. Long wait times, opted for call back. Waited 4 hours for call back. Advised call operator would check with surgery on progress and call back. No call back despite waiting by phone all day. Called again, opted for call back due extraordinary long wait time. Called back, repeated request - same thing, promised call operator would speak to surgery & call back with update. They called back 5 hours later to say they could not locate notes and would call on the Monday. (This was Friday). Waited all day Monday for call back (until 4.45pm) no call. Decided to visit surgery instead. Two receptionist staff working. Neither could locate notes or see request for scan or bloods on the surgery system. Luck would have it nurse who was seen originally walked past, so we spoke with her. She insisted she placed the request with “the care team upstairs “. She sat us down and typed all the details in again and said we would be called for blood test but long wait due to inadequate staffing. I asked could we go to Conquest path lab - advised we could. Phoned blood test appointments, offered same day or next day! Blood test now done. Now awaiting results and hospital appointment with neurology… so

It goes on. In total 3.5 days waiting by phone for updates on something that never got uploaded to the system in the first place. And why say come back here for blood tests knowing there would be a delay when hospital could do the test in less than 24 hours? I’m told it is because the surgery pays from its practice budget if test is performed outside the surgery. Not sure if this is true, but clearly they didn’t help themselves, or us, by not referring us to hospital. Praying the next part of the process is followed up, ie scans to rule out mini stroke etc.