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Care Opinion

Need to keep to appointment times

Story from nhs.uk

"Need to keep to appointment times"

About: Russells Hall Hospital

I had a follow up appointment this evening at the eye clinic. I arrived early and was seen very quickly by one of the nurses for a pre check and to have drops put into my eyes. I was taken to a waiting area at around 5.50 pm and my appointment was at 6.00 pm. I knew I wouldn't be seen straight away because the drops needed time to work. About six other people came into the waiting area all of which were seen before me. By about 7.05 pm I had had enough of waiting a decided to go. A nurse asked is everything was ok and I explained that I was going home as I had been waiting long enough.

If a nurse had taken a few minutes to come to the waiting area and explain that there were long delays I would have stayed as I could have arranged different childcare for my young children who were with a child minder.

If a patient arrived late they would not be seen, so Doctor’s should try their best to stick to appointment times, or at least ask the nurses to explain to patients they are delayed.

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Responses

Response from Russells Hall Hospital 8 years ago
Russells Hall Hospital

Submitted on 24/02/2016 at 17:31
Published on nhs.uk on 25/02/2016 at 01:31

Thank you for taking the time to give us feedback about our Eye Clinic. We are sorry to hear you waited so long without being seen and for the inconvenience caused, particularly as you had to arrange childcare to make the appointment.

Our Ophthalmology Department is an extremely busy one, often dealing with complex conditions, and so sometimes appointments do overrun, causing clinics to be delayed. When this happens, patients should be kept informed and up to date about the approximate delay by nursing staff in the department. We are very sorry that this did not happen during your visit.

We would welcome the opportunity to look into the specific reasons for the delay on the day you visited. If you would like us to do this, please get in touch with our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on free phone 0800 073 0510. We would also like to arrange for your appointment to be rescheduled and our PALS team would be happy to assist you.

We have passed your comments onto the manager for our Eye Clinic who has shared your concerns with her team.

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