As mentioned in a thread elsewhere, those of us who need to see specialists are increasingly struggling to get appointments.
I have a pacemaker and am required by my cardiologist to have an annual check-up and the pacemaker “read” so he can see how I’ve been doing. To begin with as I left each appointment I was given a card with a date for the next. Tranquillity!
Now though, I must either visit (two-hour return trip) and stand in a queue to find that the calendar for my cardiologist is full for the next three months and no, they have not opened his calendar beyond that and no they don’t know when they will - no wonder there is now a sign on their desk saying they will not tolerate aggression to their staff!
Or, I must phone, which I have been doing on and off now for several weeks. Yesterday the wait was 20 minutes (at least they tell you). So I hung up. This morning, joy of joys, the wait was 5 minutes. So I hung on while cheerful music on a loop played and I was told that the staff thanked me for my call and that I should wait “quelques instants” (which obviously means something completely different to what I translate it to mean). After about 5 minutes, even more joy of joys, the looped message and music disappear and I get a ring tone, which rings, and rings, and rings, and rings. And then the music returns, I’m told “all our lines are busy, try again later, goodbye”.
If I didn’t have a heart condition before, I do now!
I can go on tutting, like the French (and my MT who says it’s not better for him). Or I can complain (constructively) to the hospital, but to whom? I see no point in complaining to my cardiologist, nor indeed the department. This needs to go higher - any thoughts please on a title of the person who might actually have the authority to get something done. Thanks
Local senator perhaps. The maire of the commune adjoining my old one was elected to senate and has done a great deal for the local region. When a previous senator in the nearby town was elected, she helped my friend to sort out a messy divorce from a cruel husband and get help for other women in the same boat.
Thanks for the thought Shiba. I am thinking of someone at a senior level within the hospital. I have some practical thoughts for them on what they can do to make their lives easier and reduce waiting times for appointments. It’s not rocket science - info just needs to reach the right person.
For some reason this is Pays de Loire, but imagine holds everywhere
Porter une réclamation sur la qualité des soins ou d'une prise en charge)%20de%20l’établissement.
As ever with France you have to complain at hospital level before you can go higher.
I don’t have an issue with that. In fact I want it to remain within the hospital, because I have suggestions for them - basically they need to triage the reasons for the contact. Mine (an annual bilan) should never need to touch either their switchboard or their queues in front of the desk. in fact I am (I suspect along with many others) just blocking up their system and slowing it down unnecessarily for those who do need to speak to someone. It can all be automated. I haven’t needed to contact my MT for years for my repeat prescription appointment. It should be the same for the cardiologists.