Hallamshire Hosp confidentiality

[HeadingNorth 11]

but surely if your mum said she was you, its her you should be angry with not the hospital.

 

If the robotic call begins with "This is the Hallamshire Hospital calling for Joe Bloggs, please tell us if you are Joe Bloggs"... then even by answering no, Mum would already have found out that there was a hospital appointment in the offing.

 

The hospital can be excused if - and only if - the number they have on file for the OP is in fact the mother's number. That would count as being the OP's own fault for not keeping her records up to date. If they've gone to the "next of kin" record and taken a number from there, they are definitely in the wrong.

[Priorylady 10]

The automated service will only ring a number that you have provided as a way of contacting you directly. It will not use a number listed as next of kin etc.

[mollie 10]

I do think the first thing it asks is who you are

[CeeCee 10]

Ive been due to go for a minor op at Hallamshire Hospital. They said on the phone they would send appointment out by post. This was 6 days ago, no post from them. I had 4 missed calls on my mobile today(withheld). I was at work so phone was on silent unfortunatly. I had a phonecall from my mum, who said the hospital outomated service had rang regarding a date!...ive had no letter regarding an appointment, but more to the point, my mum is my next of kin in case of emergency! I do not think the hosp should have got in contact with her, I dont live with her! I had not discussed my hospital treatment with her. This is not a confidential service, very annoyed (to be polite). I will ring them tomorrow to find out what has happend, but now I have had to tell my mum everything, something I did not wish to do!!

 

There doesn't seem to be any confidentiality at the Hallamshire. My doctor sent for an appointment for me and said a letter would be sent with appointment details, no letter received but a phone call to home tel number. I wasn't in so the person (not automated) gave all the details to my partner! I was annoyed as what if it was for something I didn't want him to know about, I asked him why they had told him, it was because he told them he was my partner. He could have been anyone else, my brother/friend etc, no its not on and shouldn't be happening.

[green pea 10]

Thankyou CeeCee. I will ring them in the morning. Im am very annoyed. They have been ringing my mum up until 8.30 tonight. In the end she had to say to the robot she was me, and to cancel the appointment. So embarrassed by it all.

[whoopie 10]

thanks Godzilla, the robot did as you said, but my mum knew that I had a hosp app by this time. I had to explain what this was for so she knew it wasnt major.. I did not want to say, but it is for the gynealogical dep. Not something you want to discuss with people

 

no it should not happen, write in and complain, they might improve the service or stop it altogether, i, for one am not impressed with the technology they waste their money on......a simple letter addressed to the person and labelled private and confidential would suffice ...hope your appointment goes well anyway.

[green pea 10]

Thanks whoopie, I intend to complain. A total waste of money

[Cordelia 10]

no it should not happen, write in and complain, they might improve the service or stop it altogether, i, for one am not impressed with the technology they waste their money on......a simple letter addressed to the person and labelled private and confidential would suffice ...hope your appointment goes well anyway.

 

The OP already said they hadn't received a letter. So in this instance it would not have sufficed. Who knows what happens to appointment letters? Where do they go I wonder?

 

The telephone reminder service should save money in that it either reminds people to attend or enables them to cancel their appointments. The idea being time and money is not wasted by people not arriving for appointments. I'm sure the hospital will have statistics somewhere about the reduction in wasted appointments since it was introduced.

[nikita 10]

I think i would rather have confirmation via an automated phone call than rely on royal mail deliverys,of course it does depend on who answers the phone of course.

[whitewitch 10]

The OP already said they hadn't received a letter. So in this instance it would not have sufficed. Who knows what happens to appointment letters? Where do they go I wonder?

 

The telephone reminder service should save money in that it either reminds people to attend or enables them to cancel their appointments. The idea being time and money is not wasted by people not arriving for appointments. I'm sure the hospital will have statistics somewhere about the reduction in wasted appointments since it was introduced.

 

You are correct, apparently a lot of money has been saved by introducing this service. Letter's are usually sent out weeks before the appointment on most occasions, the older generation who is suffering with memory loss will put the letter down somewhere and forget all about it, with the phone call they get reminded about it, usually its the day before. The auto-mated service will only phone the contact number that they have got for the patient on file, it doesn't try to get hold of the person, then phone everyone else on the file when that person isn't available on their number. Unfortunately, one of the main problems with appointments is people not getting any letters.

[Salles77 10]

RHH must have your mum's number as a contact number on system, maybe it was recorded when you were still living at your mum's and hasn't been removed. The service would not dial a NoK number. You can ring the hospital and ask them to stop the phone reminders, and they will.

 

Like you say, your mum said she was you. The robot doesn't have any confidential info to give your mum, it simply states when your appointment is and asks you to confirm or cancel it. So, no, your confidentiality has not been breached. Just make sure all your contact info is up to date, give em a quick ring.

 

The reminder service saves money instead of wasting it. You would be astonished if you knew how much money was wasted through missed appointments. The hospital can only claim its fees if people actually turn up.

[Plain Talker 11]

For the last 3 times I've needed to go into the Hallamshire I've received the 'reminder' phone call days before the appointment itself, which is a bit daft and backwards, but I don't think it means that the letter isn't going to happen.

 

Either way round if your given phone number is not the one for your mother then calling her really isn't on, and I think they should understand that.

 

The hospital sent me a letter dated 21st Feb 2012 (Tuesday) which I received this morning telling me I have been given an appointment for tomorrow morning (Thursday 23rd) at 11.30!!!

 

Just one problem:- I have another appointment, at another hospital, at the same time!