Royal London Hospital Outpatient Services

In March 2019, Healthwatch Tower Hamlets carried out five outreach sessions at the Fracture Clinic in the Royal London Hospital, asking specific questions around appointment letters, information received pre-appointment and admin systems. They also received information through other outreach activities, Barts Health PALS & Complaints, reviews on dedicated websites, social media, and partner organisations.

The report found the overall opinion of the Royal London Hospital outpatient services was leaning negative. Although the patients felt that they were receiving a high standard of medical care and were happy with the attitude of staff members, they were not satisfied with the long waiting times to see a Consultant or with the frequent delays or cancelled appointments. The patients also felt that text message alerts should be available for all appointments along with appointment letters; greater communication regarding waiting list, delays and cancellations was needed; responsiveness by telephone needed improvement and administrative issues negatively impacted patient experience.