Care Opinion

Waiting time

Posted By Lou66

"Waiting time"

About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Gynaecology

(as the patient),

My appointment was at 2.30pm but I did not go in for a scan until 4.10pm. As I was referred to 2ww clinic for suspected gynaecological cancer I was on edge - and to then have to wait all this time before being seen certainly didn't help my nerves.

Once seen the staff were absolutely fantastic, but I do not understand why there was such a long wait - it must have been standard procedure for me to have a scan as part of the investigations into my symptoms and was surely factored into appointment times. 

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Responses

Response from Maria Cleverdon, Clinical Nurse Manager (Eastern Services), Gynae Clinic 2 - Gynae Assessment Unit (Eastern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust last month
Maria Cleverdon
Clinical Nurse Manager (Eastern Services), Gynae Clinic 2 - Gynae Assessment Unit (Eastern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 13/02/2025 at 16:16
Published on Care Opinion at 16:21

picture of Maria Cleverdon

Dear Lou66,

I am sorry that you had such a long wait for your appointments

Alongside the urgent suspected cancer clinics we run an emergency gynaecology clinic and unfortunately sometimes we have to prioritise scan time for these patients if are assessed as more clinically unwell.

We have looked at other options, including arranging ultrasounds on a different day for patients on the urgent suspected cancer pathway and then seeing them on a different day with the results but the feedback we have had is that most people would prefer all to be on the same day, even if this means a bit of a wait.

We do usually say in the letter that an ultrasound appointment and then an a appointment has been arranged for review with the consultant and that this will mean that the appointments can be over a couple of hours so I do apologise if this was not made clear to you.

I am glad that you felt well supported once you were seen and I wish you well

with kind regards

Maria Cleverdon

Clinical Nurse Manager

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Lou66 (the patient)

Thank you very much for the prompt response and explanation for my wait. I did not receive a letter for the appointment so hence was not aware that there would be the wait.

I posted the comment shortly after getting home and was tired and a bit grumpy!

I wish to reiterate the staff were amazing once I was seen and it was not a personal criticism of them at all

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