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Notification of appointments

Posted By septemberqn53

"Notification of appointments"

About: Royal Perth Hospital

(as the patient),

I live in a remote location and have had appointments in Perth. Twice I have arrived in Perth only to find that my appointment time has been changed. The first time, they had sent a letter two weeks before but due to our remote location the letter did not arrive before I left home. The second time I received a text message two days before my new appointment. Fortunately, I was already in Perth due to other family circumstances but the appointment time clashed with another specialist appointment that my spouse had in a different location.

If I had been at home I would not have been able to attend this appointment as I would not have had time to get there. I have previously asked for appointment's to be emailed to me so that I don't miss them and I have also signed up to the Manage My Care site. On the last occasion, this site was still showing my appointment at the old timeslot. I believe I am not the only person that this has happened to. I feel there needs to be a better way to let people know about their appointments.

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Responses

Response from Lesley Bennett, Chief Executive, East Metropolitan Health Service 3 years ago
Lesley Bennett
Chief Executive,
East Metropolitan Health Service

Submitted on 20/01/2022 at 1:54 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 2:06 PM

picture of Lesley Bennett

Dear septemberqn53,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback regarding the management of your outpatient appointments at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH). I sincerely regret the lack of timely communication by RPH on those two occasions and apologise for the upset this would have caused you.

I can appreciate how frustrating and inconvenient it must be to learn of late changes, particularly given the significant logistics often involved for remote patients attending appointments in the city. I realise there are times when unforeseen events require clinics to cancel or reschedule, making the means of communication especially important to ensure remote patients receive adequate notice.

You have also raised a concerning issue regarding the Manage My Care app and the time taken for appointment information to update.

I am very keen to further investigate the matters you have raised to understand where the processes may be breaking down. I strongly encourage you to contact the Royal Perth Bentley Group, Consumer Engagement Unit via phone: (08) 9224 1637 or email: RPBG.Feedback@health.wa.gov.au who can obtain more details and facilitate an investigation into the matters you have raised.

Again, I am sorry for your most recent experiences with RPH and appreciate the opportunity to review the services we provide.

Kind Regards,

Dr Lesley Bennett

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group

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