A disabled Perthshire woman has complained to Scotland’s health secretary and NHS Tayside after claiming she has had to wait 27 weeks for an important outpatient appointment.
Amanda Sloan, 53, of Pitlochry, who suffers from a chronic lung and spinal condition, as well as polyarthritis, said she is “furious” and “dismayed” at the length of time it has taken to get a medical assessment at a urology department since she first received a GP referral back on September 20.
She has lodged a complaint with Scottish health minister Shona Robison, claiming health bodies are not adhering to the Patients’ Charter which states people will be seen at an outpatient clinic within 12 weeks of the date they receive their GP referral letter.
Ms Sloan says she received a letter dated September 22 from NHS Tayside saying she would be seen at Perth Royal Infirmary’s (PRI) outpatient clinic within 12 weeks of the date they received her referral for a urinary problem. She then phoned the health body as she had not received an appointment letter.
“I was abruptly told the clinic I was referred to was very busy and they could not give me an appointment but would put me on the cancellation list,” she said.
“I asked the woman why they are providing patients with false information by stating they will be seen within 12 weeks and she did not respond.
“The Patients’ Rights Charter Scotland stipulates that a patient should get an outpatient consultation, diagnostic test and treatment all within 18 weeks from a GP referral to hospital — I reiterated this to the person when I phoned to complain.”
Ms Sloan says she then received a letter confirming an appointment for February 24 — just over 22 weeks after NHS Tayside received the original referral letter. However, she was dismayed that this was at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.
She added: “I phoned NHS Tayside to ask why I was being sent to Dundee instead of Perth and was told that I could be seen by a consultant in Perth, but the first appointment available would be March 30 — 27 weeks since they received the referral.
“However, I accepted the appointment.
“I am sure that many patients are experiencing the same issue and I find it unacceptable that NHS Tayside are blatantly lying to patients that they will be seen within 12 weeks of their GP referral letter when they clearly have no intention of doing so, and that they are not following the Patients’ Rights Charter Scotland.
“I am still suffering with my health due to NHS Tayside not providing the care they are required to and I feel this needs to be investigated. I also lodged a complaint with NHS Tayside after they failed to pass on crucial medical tests results to my consultant despite being requested to do so and have received an apology from them.”
Staffing “difficulties”
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said they had “experienced difficulties” in appointing urology medical staffing vacancies which impacted on their ability to provide outpatient appointments and surgery within the 12-week waiting time target.
“We have now managed to appoint these vacancies with the final consultant appointment due to start in April,” she said.
“In addition, the urology team has made changes to the way the service is delivered which will allow senior medical staff to provided additional outpatient and elective surgery capacity.”
She added: “Patients are offered the first available appointment at any site to ensure that they are treated as early as possible.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said the delay was clearly unacceptable and it was right that NHS Tayside had apologised to the patient and taken action to recruit additional staff to the urology service.
“In the current year the Scottish Government has made available an additional £10 million to address outpatient waiting times, which includes £350,000 specifically to improve waiting times in Tayside,” he said.
“Longer-term, we are also investing £200 million to create a network of five new elective and diagnostic treatment centres across Scotland, one of which will be based in Dundee.”
