It pays to persevere

So my follow-up call on Tuesday resulted in the receptionist telling me that the Practice Manager (PM) was in a meeting and could I call back tomorrow at the same time.

Wednesday - I called at 4.45pm from my car only to be told that the PM was in with the doctor so could she call me back. I was just about to drive home, I didn't want her to call whilst I was driving and anyway, I don't know my mobile number and calling from it meant that I was unable to look it up so I reluctantly told the receptionist that I would call back tomorrow (Thursday).

It was whilst driving home that I realised that I would be passing the doctors so, if I made it in time, I could pop in to see whether the PM was still around. So this is what I did. The receptionist phoned the PM and told her that I had popped in in the hope of having a word with her. I know the receptionist (she used to be my next door neighbour) and when she got off the phone she pulled a face as if to say that the manager hadn't been very happy and I pulled a face that said that I was sure that she wasn't.

The PM informed me that she had tried to call the PCT yesterday (Tuesday) but that she hadn't been able to get hold of them and that she hadn't got round to it today because she was busy doing the accounts. She assured me that she would phone them tomorrow (Thursday) and then get back to me.

Thursday came and went with no phone call.

Friday I received a voicemail from the PM asking me to phone her. I immediately called her and was told the following:

The PCT had sent a letter out to the doctors which required a response in 21 days. The doctors had not received this letter. Thankfully we are still within the 21 days response (just) so it was a good job that I had chased it up (yes, the practice manager actually said that). There were a couple of things that she wanted to check (height and weight) as the information they had was quite old now (yes, because this has been going on for nearly two years now). I said that my weight would have changed and she said that she was pleased to hear that because the last weight they had me down as had my BMI at just over 30 and to meet the criteria it had to be under 30. I told her my current weight and she said that it was great, a real good weight loss and in our favour. I explained that that was the main reason for the weight loss (when a doctor recommends something I do it). She asked the husband's weight and I was pleased to be able to tell her that that had also gone down. Phew! We meet the criteria. She then apologised but said that she had to ask the next question. Do you know what it was? Do you and your husband have regular unprotected sex? I laughed and said yes, she was embarrassed and again apologised for asking. I ask you, really, would we be going through all this shit if we could achieve the end goal all on our own with a bit of unprotected sex!

Anyway, the doctor is going to check the paperwork on Monday morning and then they are going to send it off straight away. I think the 21 days deadline is Wednesday or Thursday so let's hope that Royal Mail manages to do its job properly and get it there in time.

The PM said to call her in two weeks if I hadn't received a letter and she would chase it again but she seemed to think that I would get a letter back pretty quickly with their decision.

Fingers crossed!