"Difficult"

I had to take my mother for a check at the CHEC in Westbourne. Mum is in a wheelchair, elderly and very frail. I checked when booking that it was wheelchair friendly and was told that they believed it was as there was nothing on their notes to the contrary. On arrival it proved to be an extremely difficult entrance with a narrow angled doorway and a very high step to get in and a small waiting room with very little room for the chair. There was no receptionist.

Once called in for the consultation, the door was very heavy, the consultant didn’t seem inclined to help at all. Mum was required to transfer from the wheelchair to a chair in a very tight space while I was trying to help and hold the door open. I couldn’t see why transfer was necessary as the machine was fully adjustable. She had a few tests and then drops and we had to do the whole thing in reverse. 30 minutes later we did it all again to have further checks once the drops had worked. Mum was then told she had cataracts on both eyes and could have an op but it would be difficult because of her breathing and frailty. So she said she wouldn’t bother. We went home feeling like we had wasted our time and with Mum feeling very depressed at the thought of gradually going blind. I am going to follow up as I really feel she should have the operation.

Surely this facility is mostly frequented by older patients and should be suitable for those with limited mobility.

On a positive note, the appointments ran to time.