Those readers for whom a hospital appointment is very much a rarity may find the recent experiences of this editor of interest. For the only previous hospital appointment experienced by me after Choose & Book (“C&B”) had begun in our area (North East London), a few years back, my GP assured me it was broken and said someone would call to fix an appointment irrespective of any ambitions I had to book online for the first time!

For this occasion – an appointment at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith – the appointment date offered did not work. However the electronic access details to change to a later date came quickly; getting online was a doddle. As it happens, as this was the peak of the pre-Christmas conference season, none of the appointments offered over a six day spread worked for me. Frustratingly, there was no option to put me on hold awaiting a later release of appointments, or to look further ahead than a few days so it was time to call the C&B helpline.

Unbelievably (more…)