MikeTurin
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
WARNING: THIS RANT IS NOT RELATED TO UK'S NHS BUT ITALY'S SSN, that is almost the same.
I have to make the visit with the Diabetes specialist in July. So I asked mu GP to write a request, for the blood exams and the visit. Got PDF via a-mail and printed it. So far so good.
Working all days with computer I connected the website advertised as the easiest way to book a visit, and I found that the visit request my GP made was available in the system. Unfortunately when I tried to actually book the visit I wasn't allowed. Interestingly if I inserted manually the code for 1st diabetic visit they offered me some choices, more interestingly if I manually entered the codes for a diabetic follow up I found only one hospital available, that was the OB-GYN hospital: I could book a visit there only if I am pregnant, actually.
Plan #2 was to call the booking call center. After half an hour of elevator music, I gave up.
I tried the lesser known service to get a call back compiling a web form.
After a couple of days i got a mail saying that wasn't possible to book tins visit by phone, supposedly because the database used to find available hospital is the same for internet and intranet bookings.
So Saturday I tried to book going to the booking service at the city council where my parents are living, because I had used it before and they had access to the local hospital booking service. And the service was unavailable as '503 Service unavailable'
My dad was going to take some blood samples at the hospital where I have to be visited and I asked kindly to go to the booking booth and book for me the exam.
I supposed that it could work because in the hospital they could book directly on the local database instead to rely on the centralized database used by the call centre.
SUCCESS! Unfortunately the 1st booking was for middle morning of august 30th.
I am tempted to make the blood exams in July, then discuss them first with my GP and eventually cancel the booking.
I am really upset of this. As you know I'm a IT engineer, and I write software for hospitals, so I know a thing of two on how these systems are working. Announcing with trumpets and cheers that an online service is available and then, not only inventing a cumbersome procedure to get username and password, having a totally counterproductive interface, but making the service unusable and forcing people to go physically to a booking booth is totally despicable.
(ok I was using a four letter word, feel free to substitute).
Worse of all having to wait over three month for a visit it's another totally upsetting thing.
I can control reasonably my condition, but what if things are starting to going bad? What if I wasn't speaking English and had to rely on informations the hospital gave me?
I have to make the visit with the Diabetes specialist in July. So I asked mu GP to write a request, for the blood exams and the visit. Got PDF via a-mail and printed it. So far so good.
Working all days with computer I connected the website advertised as the easiest way to book a visit, and I found that the visit request my GP made was available in the system. Unfortunately when I tried to actually book the visit I wasn't allowed. Interestingly if I inserted manually the code for 1st diabetic visit they offered me some choices, more interestingly if I manually entered the codes for a diabetic follow up I found only one hospital available, that was the OB-GYN hospital: I could book a visit there only if I am pregnant, actually.
Plan #2 was to call the booking call center. After half an hour of elevator music, I gave up.
I tried the lesser known service to get a call back compiling a web form.
After a couple of days i got a mail saying that wasn't possible to book tins visit by phone, supposedly because the database used to find available hospital is the same for internet and intranet bookings.
So Saturday I tried to book going to the booking service at the city council where my parents are living, because I had used it before and they had access to the local hospital booking service. And the service was unavailable as '503 Service unavailable'
My dad was going to take some blood samples at the hospital where I have to be visited and I asked kindly to go to the booking booth and book for me the exam.
I supposed that it could work because in the hospital they could book directly on the local database instead to rely on the centralized database used by the call centre.
SUCCESS! Unfortunately the 1st booking was for middle morning of august 30th.
I am tempted to make the blood exams in July, then discuss them first with my GP and eventually cancel the booking.
I am really upset of this. As you know I'm a IT engineer, and I write software for hospitals, so I know a thing of two on how these systems are working. Announcing with trumpets and cheers that an online service is available and then, not only inventing a cumbersome procedure to get username and password, having a totally counterproductive interface, but making the service unusable and forcing people to go physically to a booking booth is totally despicable.
(ok I was using a four letter word, feel free to substitute).
Worse of all having to wait over three month for a visit it's another totally upsetting thing.
I can control reasonably my condition, but what if things are starting to going bad? What if I wasn't speaking English and had to rely on informations the hospital gave me?
