Rowley Hall Hospital, and not being given test results.

Nooshi

Active Member
Hi everyone - newbie here, please be kind! :)

I've joined this forum as I'm hoping for some advice, or hearing about other people's experiences.

On 1st September I had a procedure at Rowley Hall Hospital via BUPA, and also had 2 biopsies of my stomach and bowel taken at the same time. I am STILL waiting for the biopsy results to be given to me, despite repeated phone calls to the consultant's secretary (who isn't based at Rowley Hall).

She phoned me last Monday, after me having to resort to leaving her a tearful answerphone message. She apologised profusely for me not having the results yet, but she had seen them and was "sure they were ok" :roll:

She said she had an appointment for the follow-up consultation (which had already been paid for) for 29th November, but would try and get me a sooner appointment. Still nothing. I left another message for her on Monday, and still they haven't had the courtesy to call me or write to me. It's now just short of 11 weeks since the biopsies were taken.

Now, this is completely unacceptable as far as I am concerned, especially as this was paid for privately. I am at my wits' end and just don't know where to go from here. I'm sick of ringing up and just getting an answerphone, and I really don't know what to do next. If I go back to my own doctor, can they just ring the consultant for the results? It's holding up further treatment, as I am anaemic, and if I have got the all clear from these biopsies, I need to know, so that my doctor can pursue some different investigations.

My complaint isn't really against Rowley Hall themselves, as the staff there were lovely. I don't know if I should ring their Outpatients Department and see if they can put any pressure on the consultant to give me my results.

If anyone has any ideas, or has had similar experiences to share, I would be very grateful.
 

Nooshi

Active Member

Thanks for that - that's going to come in handy. I did ring BUPA , and they said that they can't chase the results for me, but I could lodge a formal complaint against the hospital. I didn't really want to go down that route as the time, as I'll still have to see the consultant face to face, and I'm such a wimp, that I know I would be uncomfortable knowing that he knew I'd complained about him!
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Thanks for that - that's going to come in handy. I did ring BUPA , and they said that they can't chase the results for me, but I could lodge a formal complaint against the hospital. I didn't really want to go down that route as the time, as I'll still have to see the consultant face to face, and I'm such a wimp, that I know I would be uncomfortable knowing that he knew I'd complained about him!
He's probably not uncomfortable with the money that he's already had...
 

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
Send the hospital administrator a nice email outlining your concern and explaining that if you don't receive your results within 48 hours you will have to contact the NQIA (.org.uk). You have no reason to feel embarassed about complaining. If you ordered a meal in a restaurant and still hadn't received your food as they were turning the lights off at the end of the evening, you would mention it to the waiter! I hope you obtain your results and more importantly, that you are feeling better soon.
 

Nooshi

Active Member
Thanks for your reply flossietoo. I've rung Rowley Hall today, and spoke to the Outpatients Dept. The woman who answered the phone couldn't have been less helpful. I got the name of the General Manager, and apparently the consultant's secretary is on holiday this week, so I'll give it until Tuesday, and if I've still not heard anything I'll write a letter of complaint to Rowley Hall.

Having spent a good deal of today in bed feeling sick and dizzy I really need some answers! :(
 

highguyuk

Well-Known Forumite
The post sounds a little harsh on Rowley Hall, considering that you've stated they've all been helpful etc and it is the consultants secretary that has been messing you around.

I'd suggest your letter of complaint is directly squarely at the consultant and his employee. In a world of equals, maybe Rowley Hall should get a positive letter?...maybe a bit too far!
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
I'd suggest your letter of complaint is directly squarely at the consultant and his employee. In a world of equals, maybe Rowley Hall should get a positive letter?...maybe a bit too far!
In a world of sequels - Biopsy 2, The Movie! - i would suggest your post makes little, if not no, sense.

It's holding up further treatment, as I am anaemic, and if I have got the all clear from these biopsies, I need to know, so that my doctor can pursue some different investigations.
If Rowley Hall is happy to house such consultants, presumably for a fee, then a complaint against them is far from too far, isn't it?

Would you be happy to pay for such a service?
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Having spent a good deal of today in bed feeling sick and dizzy I really need some answers! :(
I hope that you're not offended and that this, from a previous thread, will amuse you for a while..

Not really overheard, but a friend of my mother's arrived at the house one day for a chat and my mother asked about her health, knowing that she'd been to the doctor recently and had had some tests done - "Oh, yes, I've had a letter. I've got to go up to Dublin. They want to do an autopsy on me", she said. By the time we'd recovered from laughing at her for about five minutes, I realised that the poor woman had meant 'biopsy'...
 

highguyuk

Well-Known Forumite
In a world of sequels - Biopsy 2, The Movie! - i would suggest your post makes little, if not no, sense.

Often society is very quick to complain, but very rarely do they communicate positive feedback.

In this case, it seems the consultant and his secretary should rightly be criticised, but as the staff at Rowley Hall "were lovely", do they deserve positive feedback for that?
 

Nooshi

Active Member
Often society is very quick to complain, but very rarely do they communicate positive feedback.

In this case, it seems the consultant and his secretary should rightly be criticised, but as the staff at Rowley Hall "were lovely", do they deserve positive feedback for that?

I don't think that waiting 12 weeks for biopsy results makes me "quick to complain", and no, I won't be writing a positive letter to Rowley Hall, as they were quick enough to snatch the money, and then weren't all that helpful when I rang on Friday to find out the complaints procedure. The staff on the day of the operation were nice, but as they are in a caring profession, I wouldn't expect anything less.
 

flossietoo

Well-Known Forumite
I learned two things from my first job after university: first, that the hyper-confident Oxbridge crowd seen running through the offices each day were, in fact, just running to the photocopier room and hiding there for a while so that they looked important. Second, that when you receive particularly good or bad service from someone you should always write to them and copy their boss. Oh - I suppose three things, if you count that I was definitely in the wrong job. Always followed the letter tip, though so it wasn't a total waste of time.
 
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