Radio silence

[FrecklesandFlowers]

Hi all, has anyone had any experience with chasing their gynaecology department after not hearing from them?

The gynaecologist I spoke to on the phone in Feb 2023 said they would be in touch in 1 year to review the pill I'm on, but I haven't had any correspondence from them and it's been over a year. I've also never had an in-person appointment with them, just a phone appointment, so I want to ask for an in-person appointment as well and discuss next steps like an MRI or lap.

Should I contact the department directly or go through my GP? Thing is I don't know the name of the gynaecologist I spoke to on the phone and it's not on the letters I've got. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[Purple_Badgers]

Hi, I would recommend trying any number you can find, whether the gynae dept, or secretary , or main switchboard. You should be able to get in touch with these people.

My story: I’ve been unhappy with the communication from my gynae team. I never got to see them in person, only had a couple of phone consultations, nothing in person.

Other people seem to get a named endo nurse to contact when they are accepted under the care of an endo centre, but I didn’t. When trying to ring the secretaries, no-one would pick up and when it clicked over to the answer machine, it said “you may not leave a message” and hung up! Same when I called the main switchboard to ask to be put through to someone.

I needed to ask a question about my medication, update them with changes in my symptoms and side-effects and inform them of other new health problems I had developed while on the surgery waiting list. But I just couldn’t get hold of anyone.

Finally, I emailed PALS saying that I needed help contacting gynae. They came back to me within a week, but rather than giving me a contact, or saying they would get someone to call me back, I got fobbed off. So frustrating!

I subsequently heard that my consultant was retiring and wondered why PALS didn’t tell me that themselves. I gave up waiting for any useful communication from gynae and made a decision about my medication on my own (but keeping my GP informed).

Not long after this, I finally got a call saying that the new surgeon could do my operation in just over a month’s time, so could I please go for pre-op in a week’s time. There was a whole farce over this as neither of the two days they were offering were suitable for me.

I’ve now opted out of their care altogether, as the new surgeon isn’t suitably qualified and I seem to have been downgraded somehow to normal gynae rather than the tertiary endo centre. If I do go ahead with major surgery, it won’t be with them, as I don’t trust them now and I am completely fed up with trying and failing to communicate.

[ocke2030]

Hi ther its so fraistrating I asked to be put through to the gynae service manager who got me an appontment after waiting 9 months i got a telephone apppintmemt so I wrang her back and said i am discussing surgery i would a face to face appointment only i hope you get some where

[G3miniStar]

Honestly keep on at them, it's such a struggle to get anyone to do anything if you just wait for them to contact. The gynae team at my BSGE centre know me by my NHS number now (lol), I didn't even get all the way through it one time before she said "Oh hi Heather!". I've moved up appointments, had scans done months earlier, got reports through I shouldn't have had because my hospital doesn't get rid of me. We shouldn't have to fight and push this much.

To find the best contact number for your department, I would say the general hospital switchboards are great for this. Sometimes you do have to be a bit crafty if they're unhelpful and they say they'll just put you through, plead stupidity or say something like "oh what's the number in case I get cut off?" Or "And what's the name of x secretary?" and then phone back and ask for that person specifically.

The nurses on the services are also usually the best people to open doors for you. Get their number or email if they have one.

If you think something isn't right, it's not. There's no point being polite and British about it lol x

[SavageGold]

First time I I think I phoned the number on the card the gynae had wrote on specifically for me to find find out I'd been removed from the list altogether which must've been a mistake as I was under the impression I was being put on the wait list for surgery when I left her office.I was then re referred which took some months. But by then I was moving area.

The MOST useful thing was that my GP had a direct email for my gynae probably to save this hassle for easily resolved queries and he printed a copy of her reply to him concerning me and I still have that letter for any asrey nurses refusing to give me my treatment. For good measure I also went to a head therapist in another clinic and she wrote a letter as well so I have 2 letters for what I need in two nhs areas.

[FrecklesandFlowers]

Thank you all, I'll try your suggestions and hopefully get through!