So often it's communication or the lack of that causes the problems. I don't think the NHS do appreciate how much their changing one appointment can mess with their patients life and wellbeing. Or that simply getting to a hospital appointment can be such a huge task in itself.
Separate tale but it links into the hospital inefficiency vibe. I had a little accident yesterday and tore the tip of my little finger off, requiring a run to A&E. Everything went swimmingly until the nurse needed to take photos of the injury prior to stitching it back on. He used his iPhone but had to upload the images to the hospital system. Problem, no Internet wi fi in the department. He had to walk off to xray to get a signal, then come back, take another photo, go back to xray, and so on until he had what he needed. He said their IT boys had been several times, looked around, said your wi fi down here is crap and then just left. As someone said, left hand not appreciating what the right hand needs.
Amusingly I said I'd only ever had staples put in before, not actual stitches. The nurse said that staples were all the rage at one point but he never got to have a go as they lost the gun! So he sticks to sewing.
He finally put tube gauze bandage on the injury. I said I'd not seen that in years, most households had a roll of it and the bendy applicator tool when I was young. He said they used it a lot but every applicator tool disappeared and they were left trying to put it on by hand or with two teaspoons! Turns out a manager had spotted how much the stainless steel applicators cost and had ordered them all collected for safe keeping. They were locked in her drawer for months till someone found them!
Got to love a big organisation built on silo mentality.