Royal Orthopaedic Hospital 2020-01-04 Person 1 5 0

I was referred to ROH with a suspicious lesion in my spine, having a previous history of breast cancer. My initial appointment was put back, then put back again, then put back again. Having been referred in July, I was eventually seen in November. Government guidelines say I should start my treatment within 62 days of referral. ROH didn't even offer me an initial appointment within that timescale. I eventually had a CT-guided biopsy and was told the result would be confirmed to me by telephone in 7 to 10 days' time. After 7 weeks, I telephoned the hospital in desperation and received a call back advising me, with all the warmth and empathy of someone announcing the next train to Edinburgh, that I have metastatic breast cancer, which is a terminal illness. The nurse who called me asked, only after she had told me, if I was alone and if I was "all right". Duh, no -- of course I'm not all right! Not least because my best chance of longer-term survival comes with early diagnosis and treatment and ROH have just robbed me of that. So, if you're waiting for test results from this shambles of a hospital, please follow them up sooner, rather than later. After all, like mine, your life might depend on it.