Next chapter in my long-running saga...
My appointment at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore (Middlesex) is now less than a week away, on Monday. The original appointment letter, which I have somehow mislaid, said that another letter with more details would arrive "closer to the time". It hasn't arrived, and considering the combined inefficiencies of the NHS and the Royal Mail, quite possibly never will.
So I 'phoned the RNOH and after a couple of false trails got through to somebody at Joint Reconstruction who could answer questions about my appointment. "Yes, he confirmed, 2:10 on the 9th, see you then."
"Hang on," I said, "can you tell me the name of the doctor I'm seeing and give me a room number so I know where to go?"
Long silence...
Eventually, "It's Mr.Gerrand."
"OK, can you give me a room number please?"
Another even longer silence......
"It's not here, it's in Bolsover Street." That's the RNOH's other site in central London, near Regent's Park and Harley Street.
"Thanks for telling me, otherwise I'd have turned up at the wrong hospital."
The Bolsover Street place, I've since discovered, is the RNOH's Assessment Centre. At least that makes some sort of sense.
I went online, looked up Mr.Gerrand, and found both a 'phone number and a name and email address for his secretary. Obviously I wanted confirmation that the appointment actually is for Bolsover Street not Stanmore, so I rang the secretary's number. The recorded message gave a different name and said she was secretary for two completely different doctors, not including my man. So I left a message anyway asking for a call back to confirm the appointment. It might happen. And there again it might not.
Now going to try an email to a secretary who quite probably no longer exists. Or no longer works for Mr.Gerrand anyway. Also got to cancel the "Just Park" parking space I had booked just a couple of minutes walk away from Stanmore station.
Never a dull moment...
A bit more about the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital saga:
Looking up Dr. Gerrand online, I found this link to the Daily Mail back in 2014. I had no idea things like this were being done nine years ago. It also fits with what my local orthopaedic surgeon said when referring me to Stanmore, that some such implant was probably the best way to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment