Urgent.

I left yesterday's blip believing that I had sorted things out. However, being a cynical old Hector I really thought it best to check that everything was working as it should. (We live in the sticks out here and we seem to be on the boundary of just about every area there is. We have a Dundee based GP, a Perthshire postcode and Angus is our local authority).

Anyway, after having been contacted by Perth in the first instance , I pointed out that they were not in fact our local authority. So they told me that contact would have to be transferred to Angus. Didn't argue even although their offices are at least another 30 miles further away. So I phoned them up to check that they had received the urgent referral. The whole charade went something went like this...

Phone Angus council access line and asked to speak to OT dept.

Was asked who I wanted to speak to.

Told them I didn?t know.

Silence

Explained why I was phoning and that the referral had been made to Perth Council by mistake.

She asked me if I wanted to make a self referral.

I told her why I was phoning again and stated that the referral had already been made by the specialist nurse via the OT department in Perth.

She reluctantly put me through, but not without throwing in a side swipe while she did it.

Explained why I was phoning again to the new person on the phone.

She also went off to check.

She told me that the referral had gone through but that she couldn?t do anything about it because they only dealt with the over 65?s.

She gave me a number of the under 65 department.

So I phoned them.

I explained again.

She too went off to check.

After clarifying names, addresses etc she said that the referral had gone through and that the OT manager would be in touch when she had a minute.

?When will that be? I asked rather stupidly.

?Oh I can?t tell you that. We don?t know when the manager will phone you.?

?OK. Is it likely to be later this afternoon or will it be sometime on Monday??

?As I already said, we don?t know when the manager will phone.?

Felt an excuse me moment coming on. Contained it and said, ?So what exactly, does URGENT mean??

A cold voice replied, ?Oh do you want to make an URGENT referral??

?No I do not. The specialist nurse has already made the referral and it was marked URGENT. I want to check that this message has been passed on from Perth Council to yourselves.?

Decidedly irritated by now she said, ?All right, if you give me your phone number I?ll pass the message on?.

But 5pm no contact had been made. Grrr...