"Respect for the elderly is not so difficult!"

I have occasion to visit the eye unit with my elderly father twice in the past month. These visits could not have been more different. On the first visit my father, who is 85, walks with a Zimmer frame and suffers from mild dementia, was treated with courtesy and respect. The wonderful doctor did their best to clarify the procedure. They were helpful, kind and patient. The second time we visited we saw a different doctor. They were arrogant, brisk to the point of rudeness. They spoke to me and totally ignored my father. I was told my father was to start a course of injections into his eye for wet AMD. At no point was the procedure explained to my father. I was handed a booklet but given no time to read and process the information in it. The doctor made no attempt to help my father negotiate the equipment around the room. Their whole manner was brisk and rushed. They barked instructions at me without and became impatient when I did not immediately act upon them. As this is a course of injections lasting up to a year my father and I will be back many times. I hope we either see a different doctor or the present one can find some respect for their elderly patients! The difference in attitude between the two doctors we saw could not have been more apparent.