Whats up at the Civic?

I had trouble with Peter being very rude to me., I am my own health advocate and make no apologies for calling 3 times, especially when people who had seen the surgeon either the same day or after me were getting surgery dates and I wasn't. I wanted a rationelle, which no one had. He became especially upset with me when I starting asking "who else may I speak to"?, I just kept repeating and he finally said "just a minute and I'll get the nurse", best thing that happened. Spoke to Aspen and miraculously got a call from the scheduler with my surgery date for March. I do believe in the "squeaky wheel gets the grease". You are the only one who can advocate for yourself. I believe you should file a complaint. I was going to if I hadn't heard when I did. I was going to contact the Ombudsman for Ontario for some help. They oversee provincial programs, ie: wait times. There is definitely a problem at the Civic Hospital. Perhaps it is because there is a higher number of people seeking out this service and them not having adequate staffing levels to cope with the influx, this is endemic throughout all health care. That being said, information is not given easily and when you come from a clinic outside of Ottawa facts are extremely skewed. The folks in Ottawa don't quite understand what we have been told at other clinics, in terms of wait times for actual surgery, etc. There seems to be a real disconnect. Don't let this discourage you from calling again if you don't hear in another 4 weeks or so. I hope you hear soon and you certainly did not deserve to be treated so badly, regardless what kind of day Lana was having.

Thank you I will look into that ombudsman too.  Good for you for being persistent.

Zizzler, I am so sorry this happened to you! No ones has the right to treat you that way, ESPECIALLY someone in a helping profession who works in a job where support is crucial. I understand not feeling comfortable or confident enough to complain but I do wish that you would. How disappointing that someone at the clinic would treat a patient that way.
I am calling today to see where I am at as I have heard nothing and my meeting with the surgeon was over 2 months ago. I'm now nervous to call, no one should have to be nervous to call a hospital because they are worried about how the staff will treat them. I'll let you know if I get any updates and that should help you out with your date :)

Good luck to you with the call, I hope it goes well.

Hi Zizzler,

I'm sorry you had that experience. Lana has never been anything but courteous with me. Maybe she was having an especially bad day, though that doesn't excuse unprofessional behaviour. But do try to keep in mind that even the best of us have bad moments. I do know that when I was going through the system and was waiting on my surgery date, Lana went out of her way to confirm my date, and even apologized when she took a day off, and didn't get back to me for a couple of days with my date...so I think a bit uncharacteristic of her. 

I only had problems with one of the receptionists at the Civic -- one was really, really nice, while the other was like her evil twin. I could imagine she would give the type of response you're describing...in fact, she did give me those types of responses all the time!

Anyway, you're very close now. Your patience will pay off!

DD

I was shocked because she was always ok before.  I am still feeling a little funky about it today but my plan is to focus on what I can control in all of this like cleaning my house, sorting old clothes etc.  I will get through this!

Keep at it. Don't give up. I spent many a day crying over the way I was treated at HRRH. The toughest part of this process is just getting to surgery. You can't afford to be "patient" if I had I still wouldn't have had the procedure. It was 13 months before I could even get confirmation that any one had my paper work and they didn't. So my not calling I had to wait an extra year. No matter how badly they spoke to me, and it was bad. I kept calling. So keep calling. Her job is to take calls. And if she was more on the ball she wouldn't have so many. Or at the very least if she was nice the calls wouldn't take so long. 

Totally agree.  If I had not followed up I would still be waiting for my endoscopy.  The doctor I was referred to had a 1 year backlog and was about to go on mat leave.  Didn't tell anyone, only reason I found out was I called them directly and asked.  I have little trust in the "system" due to several incidents like that.

Had my consultation on feb 27 and got my date last week for june 9 at the civic. I too did call to see what was happening. They give very little notice of surgery. I only had 4 weeks. Sit tight I'm sure you'll be soon.

Thank you sweet-pea, that is helpful.  They are telling people in March now that they will probably have surgery end of August, a 5 month wait from surgeon appointment.  Ridiculous eh? Basically ruins our summer entirely not knowing, can't plan a vacation, just sucks.