Synexus North East - Hexham

alan

Initial impressions only:
It starts on the phone initially followed up by visits to them if you are suitable to help with the trial they are considering. You do get basic information and the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. I'm not sure if those calls are controlled centrally or by the local site you would deal with- Hexham Hospital in Northumberland for me.
If/when invited you'll get asked more questions, sign a few autographs, and possibly be tested depending on the trial being considered. I see a couple of other reviews are negative but I found things good with a couple of minor criticisms mentioned later.
They were very helpful and flexible as I had a problem when I got to Hexham causing me to arrive late. The Hospital is central and easily found. I waited a short time before being seen to go through some questions- medication, medical conditions, GP then signed a few documents for some permissions (eg the tests they wanted to carry out) etc.
The tests will vary depending on the trial being considered but I had a liver scan. Yes, it was painless.
Part way through the process I started to feel dizzy and the young lady who was dealing with me was superb in looking after me, 5-10 minutes of quite badly dizzy and then some time of taking it easy as I recovered more fully. She took my BP which proved to be quite low, and is writing to my GP with information about this event. My thanks go to her for her help but unfortunately I don't remember her name.
After my 'event' the interview and testing was completed. I was given preliminary findings and an idea of what would happen next as well as the opportunity to ask any questions.
Any criticism is that when I was returned to reception for completion of things it wasn't really too clear when I was free to go- I was there an extra 10 minutes or so before I asked when I could leave to find out that I could have left. A small point really but a clear 'you're free to go' would have been useful but I think it was the end of the day so it was probably just busyness more than anything else.
I was told that I'd hear from them within a couple of weeks if accepted for the trial, but not that I'd get if not accepted. It would be good to give a courtesy call if you're not suitable for the trial to give a sense of completion for potential trial candidates.

After the above I got a call the next day to say I'd been accepted for the trial and given a bit more information about the next stages. And that's it up to date.
More to come?

X19A

This place is an absolute disaster.

I was encouraged, via a letter forwarded by my GP to take part in a clinical trial.
I telephoned an 01434 number to register my interest and spoke to a very pleasant lady who recorded a great number of details.

I was invited to come in and was seen by nurse; Sue Bell, who was extremely unfriendly to the point of being very rude and unpleasant.
I left this appointment feeling severely annoyed with the way in which it was handled.

I was then asked to attend a consultation with a doctor. This consultation was cancelled and rescheduled twice at short notice (ie. the day before, both times) by phone.
Late in the afternoon before the third time that they gave me for this appointment, they called to let me know that, because my existing medication had changed in the last X months (something that was never mentioned at the above appointment), they couldn't proceed with the appointment the following morning.

So all in all, a complete waste of time and not a pleasant experience.

David H.

The initial appointment was fine and they said that they would also forward the results to my GP so that I could discuss it. Seven months later the GP is still waiting… So I have an idea of the problem but the GP can’t help!
Further ti a recent phone call the GP has to request the results- helpful to know that!!!

Craig B.

I went for an appointment where I had to have a blood sample taken, I found the staff were very professional and friendly. I wasn't suitable for the trial as I was "too healthy" but I got a nice of tea out of it and have signed up in case anything else comes up where I am not too healthy.

alan D.

Be very careful with Synexus they say they will pay your travel expenses, but they will rip you off

Sue T.