Health Organization for Pudendal Education

hi all
i feel like this is groundhog day! i am once again having major problems contacting dr g, i have tried emails-no reply, phone calls-going straight to voice mail, anyone else having problems.
i really need to speak to him quite urgently, as i am having second thoughts about the decompression surgery and i want more info on the spinal stimulation he also mentioned.
anyone know if he is on holiday or just not getting back to me

andrea

Hello Andrea

No specific information here to help you, and as you know I am an NHS patient so do not have email contact available to me in the first place and am not sure how this works, but if you are not getting any response then I'd suggest that the problem may well be his secretary, again.

Could I suggest coming at this from another direction. You could perhaps try ringing the main switchboard at Frenchay and ask to be put through to the main reception desk at the Pain Clinic, that shouldn't go to voicemail. (If it does, then I'd suggest leave one short message saying you need to speak to Dr G urgently, and then keep calling back anyway) Then you can tell them that you are having trouble getting through to Dr G and that you need to speak to him urgently etc etc and see what they say...? Anyway it might work, or they might be able to tell you something useful...?

Except, you've probably tried this already. I have no other ideas, I wish I could think of something else.

Hope you get through soon.

hi calluna
looks like you were right, i have just rung the nuffield where i see him and asked if they could contact dr g for me, but said the only number they have for him is the secretarys number i already have and that he is not on holiday and neither is his secretary witch woman!
it seems to be her again, what is wrong with this woman it makes me wonder if she enjoys keeping people waiting and i wonder if she would be sooooooooo slow if it was her in my position, i am getting really pxxxxxxxxxx off now and am once again ready to do battle


andrea

Maybe it is time to look into the complaint process at the Nuffield?

I wonder if it is the same person with whom I had problems, I had a six month delay to my surgery because my referral was not passed through.

her name is catherine, i did manage to get hold of her yesterday lunch time and she said she was in transit and would ring me back in 20 minutes, guess what? no return call. when she answered the phone she answered it as the practise manager, what a joke that is! i am seriously considering a complaint because this is simply not acceptable and i must admit her attitude is quite appalling, she is very short with you. i am definately going to mention it also to dr g when i eventually see him. i am afraid if it is a matter of keeping costs lower for private patients i think most people would agree that they would rather have some kind of decent service instead, as i said before you are paying for it.
i wonder if dr g really knows how this women speaks to patients and conducts the running of his practise


andrea

Got to agree Andrea.
If it is the same Catherine, Dr G had a couple of years ago she could NOT have been nicer, so I can't believe the difference. I'm not saying that she was totally on the ball administratively; although she may have been, I had no reason to complain; but she was so lovely on the phone. She told me that one of his patients referred to Dr G as a 'teddy bear' for instance and was immensely helpful and chatty in general. Maybe something has gone very wrong in her life or she just has too much to do. . . .or maybe just a different Catherine of course! I believe she only worked on Thursdays?? (for his private patients) at that time and she was difficult to get in touch with but that was understandable when only working one day a week.
It must be driving you crazy! Hope you get some, bad attitude free, response soon.
Helen

Don't recall the name Catherine - and certainly not the 'one day a week' thing. Maybe it is a different Catherine. I don't think I ever got through to her at all.

I had trouble contacting her in February. I left a few messages on the voicemail with no luck.

I did find that there was a reasonable chance of her answering the phone if you called between about 9.02 am and 9.10am .. and don't forget to say 'abracadabra' ...

thanks all, well once again my terse email and voicemails must have done the trick, as dr g rang me last night, he still says surgery is my best option, so i am seeing mr dixon on thursday with the view to having the surgery within the next 3 weeks!
i am sooooooooo worried with the thought that the surgery might make it worse and the long recovery which i might be in more pain as i dont think i could handle it and right now i really need to be more positive but i cant seem to get into that frame of mind.
i will as i said before post my progress in the hope that it might help others

andrea

Glad you have got a reply at last - I think it good that Dr g rang you himself. I have to see him again in April or May as a private patient and am beginnnng to wonder if I should start trying to get hold of Catherine now! I have had problems before trying to make an appointment but once I have got hold of Catherine she has always been very nice and chatty.
Hope all goes well with your future treatments.
Julia