My cancelled MRI

[silverthorn2151]

Well, after waiting for just over 2 weeks for the day of my urgent MRI to come around the day is here.

3:20 this afternoon I am due to attend a mobile MRI unit in Walthamstow, in the swimming pool car park.

I say 'am', but should say 'was due to'.

Imagine my suprise when I get a call from the NHS diagnostic service at 11:20 today (4 hours before the machine was due to start whirring away) to say that they are very sorry but a mobile unit isn't available and can we 'reschedule'.

Now, far be it from me to suggest that InHealth, the outfit who deal with these things are obviously incompetent, clearly they have just mislaid the 40' articulated unit between last night and today, otherwise they would have known sooner, wouldn't they.

So, an appeal to PH'ers out there, if you see the mislaid unit, let me know and I'll gladly let them know.

Still, they have a slot for me on New Years Eve. I'm sure that will go without a hitch eh?

[silverthorn2151]

Yup, north east London and I'm surrounded by hospitals that have the units! I have agreed to travel to get the test done late next week in an evening appointment at a hospital a bit further away.

The clinical side of things is great just the incompetent administration and management.

I was an in-patient with this problem, the pain was so great. I had the option of staying in while they got the pain sufficiently under control that they could do the MRI. I couldn't lie still on my back long enough you see. Oh no thought I. There must be someone who needs the bed because they are ill. I'll go home loaded down with morphine and a chemical cocktail that is tearing my insides to shreds and go through the system.

Now I'm being fecked about like mad because I am an intelligent and right minded person (in my view of course)who thought to do the proper thing. Next time old Mr X needs a bed on a medical ward I'm sorry old mate, you'll have to wait in the corridor because I'm going to put me and mine first.

The 2 biggest problems the NHS has to deal with seem to me to be

1. Us. The patients. As a collective we appear to be obnoxious, rude, demanding, unappreciative, lazy and discourteous.
2. The NHS management who seem to operate with the sole intention of avoiding personal responsibility or liability.

The whole lot should be nuked from orbit and start again. It's the only way to be sure.


Edit: this post was in response to a reply that seems to have somehow evaporated. How strange. Perhaps I'm going mad! Nurse!!!

Edited by silverthorn2151 on Friday 7th December 14:23

[Happy82]

Can you go private? I gave up with the NHS as they were so useless when trying to sort out a knee issue, if it wasn't cancelled appointments they forgot to tell me about it was staff with attitude problems

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

With my knee trouble, I just went private for the MRI scans. Yeah, it costs, but it also means swift diagnosies.

I saw a private consultant, paid £150 for the privilege, and got an MRI scan a week later, no messing.

Might be worth considering?

[gog440]

silverthorn2151 said:

Well, after waiting for just over 2 weeks for the day of my urgent MRI to come around the day is here.

3:20 this afternoon I am due to attend a mobile MRI unit in Walthamstow, in the swimming pool car park.

I say 'am', but should say 'was due to'.

Imagine my suprise when I get a call from the NHS diagnostic service at 11:20 today (4 hours before the machine was due to start whirring away) to say that they are very sorry but a mobile unit isn't available and can we 'reschedule'.

Now, far be it from me to suggest that InHealth, the outfit who deal with these things are obviously incompetent, clearly they have just mislaid the 40' articulated unit between last night and today, otherwise they would have known sooner, wouldn't they.

So, an appeal to PH'ers out there, if you see the mislaid unit, let me know and I'll gladly let them know.

Still, they have a slot for me on New Years Eve. I'm sure that will go without a hitch eh?

First off I have to claim a bit of bias here as I work for InHealth doing MRI scans but not in the same area of the country, so I have no direct knowledge of what has happened today but MRI scanners are very complicated pieces of equipment and they are more prone to breaking down in a mobile environment than in a static unit ( being bounced around in a truck isnt the best thing to do to a load of computer gear)so my guess would be that something has failed on the scanner and we are waiting for an engineer to repair it, so they havent lost the truck, and in fact if you had gone to where your appointment was I would bet the scanner was sat there with some pretty pissed off staff on it because the last thing we want to do is cancel patients.