Wait at clinic like Third World service
I feel compelled to write regarding the treatment my wife received recently while attending the ophthalmology outpatient clinic at Russells Hall Hospital.
I feel compelled to write regarding the treatment my wife received recently while attending the ophthalmology outpatient clinic at Russells Hall Hospital.
She had an appointment for 2.30pm and we arrived ten minutes early. We ended up leaving the hospital after 6pm, three and a half hours later.
One would assume it to be common decency to be advised of the length of delay in maintaining appointments, when you arrive at the reception desk. At least one would have a choice, to stay, to go, to remove your car if necessary, avoiding extortionate costs, or to inform family members of your pending delay, bearing in mind we are not talking minutes here, but hours.
Once you are trapped in the waiting area, which is a considerable distance away from the refreshment area, there is still no advice given regarding the delay time to expect. At the least if you were told you could get refreshments without fear of losing your place.
When the delay time and the sequence of patients being seen were questioned, we were told that the patients with more serious condition had priority. This beggars belief – do they not know this information when the appointments are being sent out?
On the day we were being treated like cattle, there were three people dealing with the patients, one qualified consultant and two junior trainees, who constantly called to the consultant for advice, taking him away from his patients, which therefore caused the major part of the delay.
When we spoke to other people suffering the same plight we were told it is common practice for the eye clinic to be running two hours late.
Well it's about time this common practice came to a halt. Stop giving people appointment times that have no chance of being kept within a reasonable time. Make the appointments according to the staff available and be more informative about what is going on.
By the way, it was noticed that as soon as it was 5pm the juniors and other nursing staff had their coats on to go home.
Please get this problem sorted for the sake of the NHS. And give people the service they deserve, not the treatment expected in a Third World country.
Geoff Gutteridge, Knarsdale Close, Brierley Hill.
