Why are clinics so crap at communicating with you?

[sausage]

If I can be totally honest...........

In speaking with clinics/surgeons, some are very good at answering questions, arranging consultations, but some are absolute dogs crap.

Let me big up Dr Bisanga's consultant Stephen, answers questions within 24 hours, or usually quicker, answers in detail, always there to help.

Let me rant about Dr Mwamba's clinic........Dr Mwamba gave a very detailed consultation via email (I assume it was him that wrote it). I was happy to arrange a consultation, he said you need to email our customer care team, I did, 2 weeks later, after several emails, and letting Mwamba know I hadn't had a reply from them, in which he replied and said he would make sure they got in touch............NOTHING.....

How does that place work? 2 weeks and no reply....I am not sure I will ever get a reply. Do they want my money or not......Mwamba's clinic is TBH bloody expensive and they have terrible service.

The other thing is Dr Bisanga is booked up for around 6 months.....Mwamba's waiting time is just 2 months.......so you would think Mwamba's clinic was less busy and would easily be able to respond to an email + would want my custom.

[gillenator]

I read and hear about this all too often. Even more so post-op when the patient already had the procedure and paid in full. Sometimes no one from the office calls to check up on the recovering patient. Or if there are complications post-op and the patient is requesting assistance.

As you stated, some clinics are soooo busy and backed up, booked way ahead on the calendar. The fundamental problem is that the clinics do not beef up their staffs when they get busier. They spend most of their time in surgery and all of the many tasks involved in preparing for each procedure each and every day.

Many of the staff are doing multiple tasks and so the things that must get done today are done however the many things that can taint their reputations are put on the back burner. It can be growing pains and/or a crisis management mode that is allowed to go on and on. This is not good for morale either because many employees resent the situation not being addressed.

If they do not reply to daily incoming emails or return daily phone calls, then the next day's calls get stacked on top of yesterday's and a huge backup begins piling up. It can become overwhelming to the already overworked staff. So after one week, can you just imagine the backlog that has evolved?

You might want to alert Dr. Mwamba again and tell him that you still have not received a response. Hard to say what else you can do at this point if you have already expressed your concerns more than once.

Hope it works out for you my friend.

[sausage]

The thing is, Mwamba's clinic is not heavily booked up. It only has a 2month waiting time for surgery, which is relatively short. I assume this is because his prices are waaay higher than other clinics in Belgium.

Mwamba himself has forwarded my emails to both their customer care team and a specific employee's email address, neither have replied.

I have sent a final email to Mwamba to tell him that I am going to discontinue my interest with his clinic if I don't receive a response within a few days.

I don't understand how a service can be so poor in an industry where patients need help and support, are potentially going to pay a lot of their hard earned cash, and make the clinic some good money.


I could be outrageous and assume that Mwamba thinks Dr Nigam is onto something, therefore Mwamba is starting to prepare his clinic for new treatments.........this is the only ridiculous thing I can think up as an excuse for his clinic's poor service.

[35YrsAfter]

The thing is, Mwamba's clinic is not heavily booked up. It only has a 2month waiting time for surgery, which is relatively short. I assume this is because his prices are waaay higher than other clinics in Belgium.

Mwamba himself has forwarded my emails to both their customer care team and a specific employee's email address, neither have replied.

I have sent a final email to Mwamba to tell him that I am going to discontinue my interest with his clinic if I don't receive a response within a few days.

I don't understand how a service can be so poor in an industry where patients need help and support, are potentially going to pay a lot of their hard earned cash, and make the clinic some good money.


I could be outrageous and assume that Mwamba thinks Dr Nigam is onto something, therefore Mwamba is starting to prepare his clinic for new treatments.........this is the only ridiculous thing I can think up as an excuse for his clinic's poor service.

I know Dr. Mwamba personally and think he's a great guy with excellent surgical skills. Not sure why there is a disconnect.

[sausage]

I am not criticising his surgical skills or him, it seems his customer care team are non-existent.

Same for Dr Rahal's customer care team/consultant. I was in correspondence with them a few weeks back, got 2 or 3 replies within days and have not had a response since.

[drmwamba]

Hello Sausage ,

I would like to apologize for the inconvenience this situation may brought up .
Our goal and philosophy is to be close to our patient and to address as quickly as possible their concerns .This is a wake up call for us ;we need to review what's really happened and why they didn't respond even after I asked them to do so .
We all learned from our mistakes and I thank you to point it out .

[gillenator]

Very respectable and honest comment from Dr. Mwamba.

Got to respect a man who owns up to a mistake or misunderstanding.

Hope everything works out for both of you!

[sausage]

Dr Mwamba's been very helpful when I have emailed him, I usually get a quick response from him, I am glad he has responded on here, although you can never be sure it is the surgeon that is actually writing the emails and posting the messages on the forums.

I'll leave it until Friday......and see if I have a response by then. That will be the 3 week mark.

Other clinics got back to me within a day about arranging a consultation, they are all booked into my diary.