Angry at Charring Cross GIC

[Guest rexxmarksley]

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing well!

It's been so long since I've come on here properly. I used to be on this site every day!

However, my transition has been moving along but it's hit another stand still.

I went to my GP at the end of last year and he managed to refer me to Charring Cross GIC, which was great!

They never replied to him, so he wrote back. We called them and was told that I was on the waiting list. My GP was never told this and still has had no contact from them yet. Neither have we, except from general falsehoods we've been told after calling them.

We called them once around March where we was told September I'd have an appointment

Then November

Then I was told, nearing 6 weeks back probably, that I'd receive something in the post in 3 weeks.

Of course, none of this has happened. 7 months in the waiting and not one word from them that wasn't initiated by us.

This is terrible. I'm honestly concerned for the way TG people are treated on the NHS. Other GICs have what may be considered a long list but they are generally good at one they do and people aren't left angry at the lack of communication.

It may be London but they should have their back sides in gear! They really need to up their game.

How many people could take drastic actions waiting on them? I've thought black market or private, neither of which I can afford. Plus, I know how bad black market is and I'd never do it. But those thoughts have cropped up because I've been waiting so long.

It's ridiculous and I'm honestly upset about it. They were also rude to me on the phone saying they were starting to recognise my name... If they'd talked to me first, they might not know my name and I wouldn't have to call so much!

Just a small vent about this because it's getting ridiculous...

Aaron

[JJ]

Sorry to hear about that Aaron. Waiting can be maddening. I've heard other stories from the UK about the long delays and unkept promises. Eventually they do seem to get to it but it is almost like they want to see how many people they can drive away first.

I hope you get the ball rolling with them soon. If private care is an option I know some people finally decide to go that way but am not familiar with the repercussions since I am not part of that system

Johnny

[Guest Melissa~]

Long waits seem to be the standard there. I can't say I've ever heard anyone breeze through the NHS as can happen on the private side.

[tracy_j]

This needs to get to the Care Quality Commission if you are reciving unsatisfactory service. Waiting is likely but poor communication should not be.

Go to www.cqc.org.uk and readup on the options

Tracy

[Guest rexxmarksley]

Thanks Tracy for the site, I'll take a look into that!

It's a shame the waits are long, but that's to be expected.

It's just the quality of communication and treatment/respect :/

Hopefully things will get sorted

Aaron

[Guest rexxmarksley]

Woohoo! I was /finally/ treated with respect!

I called them up and left a message as they were unavailable. Yesterday I got a call back, a very polite call!

They said that my information pack must have been lost in the post as they sent it on the 5th of July. This is the second bit of post we've lost... hmm!

The woman on the phone was nice about it and actually understood the aggravation that comes with waiting. I found myself genuinely saying thank you at the end of the call!

If it's not here by tomorrow they'll send out another and they'll call me back tomorrow to double check it all.

This could mean an appointment being made soon!

Almost feel bad I complained but they do need to organise themselves better.

[Ravin]

If nothing else, following up with people after mailing out packets to make sure they're received them would be helpful. Communication and making sure people feel heard are crucially important aspects of customer/client/patient service that shouldn't be neglected.

[Guest Edu]

Well, it seems that inefficient administration ain't exclusive to a single country. I have been dealing with Spain's public health system lately and, although the delays I've been facing seem to be shorter, the bad communication and administrative incompetence seem quite close to what you have encountered (you can read about the ongoing struggle here: http://forum.lauras-playground.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=61829).

I don't know how similar or different the systems are here and there, but I think this piece of advise should be quite universal: be patient, but be persistent. You need to acknowledge that some delays are unavoidable, but also keep contacting them with some regularity to make sure they do their job and prevent unnecessary additional delays as much as possible.

Almost feel bad I complained but they do need to organise themselves better.

Don't feel bad about that, you did what you had to ;-) Politeness from a care service is supposed to be the norm, not the exception. If you weren't treated properly in one or more of your communications, you are fully entitled to complain, regardless of whether they do things right during a later communication.

[Guest rexxmarksley]

Thanks, I'll keep on pestering when I need to.

A new information pack is being sent out to me, which might have some info on appointments, finally!

[Guest]

If nothing else, following up with people after mailing out packets to make sure they're received them would be helpful. Communication and making sure people feel heard are crucially important aspects of customer/client/patient service that shouldn't be neglected.

One would think this would be easy, in the 21st Century, with electronic and social media. Apparently this is not the case, on a global scale.