British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association

Hi all,
I had a home sleep study on 4th August 2011 & got told that i have OSA. Unfortunately the doctor didn't tell me much other than some of the readings were very worrying & that he wanted me to see the consultant asap & that i shouldn't make plans to travel stay near the phone so i am available to come in at short notice.
Since having the home study i have had no correspondence back from the hospital i am going out of my mind worrying so i decided to call them no mean feat for me as i am deaf & struggle to use the telephone when talking to strangers the secretary was less than helpful would not let me talk to the doctor i saw or to the consultant all they said was i was being refered back to ENT as i had refused a CPAP i explained that i thought they might have mistaken me for someone else as i can not refuse something i have never been offered & re-quoted my hospital number.

Surprise,surprise the attitude changed but still not give me any answers to my questions to me to see my GP to see report so of i trotted only for GP to say sorry but i have not recieved the report phone the hospital i blew a gasket lol decided to give up then i found you guys so thought would ask if anybody else been treated like this & where i should go to make formal complaint i already have issues with mental health & the not knowing is doing nothing to aid this sorry if i waffled on but thought it best to give the full picture so that hopefully someone can guide me.

thanking you all in advance nutnutdorset(Carl)

I can see why you are worried, especially as they said to stay by the phone and not travel as they had worrying results! It seems very lax of the hospital not to have contacted at least your GP by now to make him aware of any treatment that you may need.

Personally I would ring the hospital again and insist on an appointment to get the results of your tests. Your hospital's lack of care in dealing with your calls to them is disgraceful. My sleep clinic is amazing, the admin staff and the technicians are thoughtful and always willing to answer questions and give advice.

If you still can't get any info from the hospital after your next call, ask for a complaint form to be sent to you or contact your local Hospital Trust and make a complaint direct to the Trust. This way at least you can get your complaint in writing without having the problem of dealing with them over the phone.

You must keep on chasing them, they must realise that having sleep apnoea is a health and safety issue if you drive and affects your quality of life if it goes untreated.

I hope that you get some results from the hospital soon.

Keep pushing them, and tell them that you'll be happy to accept a cancellation appointment, even at short notice.