The Royal Marsden Hospital (Sutton) 2021-01-26 Person 4 5 0

The communication needs addressing. It has got a lot worse recently and is a real problem for patients. For example: 1. Last month when I came for my Zoladex I was told I had Zometa too. I couldn't do it as I had small children waiting for me in the car. I'd also specifically asked previously whether I'd have it that time and told categorically no, it would be the next time. 2. Last week I had an appointment with my oncologist. I knew I was due for one in January some time. I received no letter, no email or call. I called up to check and was told it was the following day. How hard could it have been to let me know about this appointment? It was pure chance I happened to call in time. 3. Today I went for my Zoladex and Zometa. On arrival I was told I couldn't have my Zometa because I'd not had my bloods done and hadn't been to the dentist. Again, why on earth wasn't I told about having these done before then I could have got them done. Additionally, my boyfriend had taken time off work to look after our children so I could have the zometa, and the next day in case I have a bad reaction again. This is huge for him. And now he's got to do this all over again next week when I do have my Zometa. And this is just the last 3 appointments I've had. It's always a bit like this but has got much worse. And I'm just one patient. At a time when the NHS is particularly stretched it seems crazy to not be more organised so appointments don't get missed or messed up. It feels totally wrong to be wasting time and appointments because of a lack of information getting passed on to patients.

As above, it's just the communication needs to be much better. Patients aren't being told about appointments, details, bloods etc. The level of care you receive is outstanding. The nurses and doctors are absolutely amazing. But the communication really needs to be stepped up.