St Albans City Hospital 2024-04-23 Person 5 5 0

I was seen as an NHS patient within a week (a cancellation appointment) after referral from my GP. This was under the 'One Stop Doctors' scheme. I first saw a Consultant Surgeon for an examination and he listened to what I said about my symptoms and concerns. I was then taken to have a mammogram followed by an ultrasound. The results of these were available soon afterwards so I met the Consultant again to discuss these, which fortunately were clear; he was willing to answer my questions and made a helpful suggestion of a non-subscription treatment of my symptoms. My total appointment time was about an hour - an excellent service and system, and effective use of the hospital's resources and staff time. The OSD scheme is excellent - the unit at St Albans is self-contained; there is no long anxious waiting times between separate appointments which otherwise can be so stressful. All the staff were friendly, cheerful and clearly enjoyed their work in a pleasant, calm environment; it was a weekend and if staff, including doctors and consultants, can work flexibly it makes for the best use of hospital space and resources, and probably reduces the time waiting for appointments and also reduces the admin time and costs of multiple appointment letters/emails/telephone calls. I really hope the OSD scheme can be expanded and used as much as possible.