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Frustrated hospital appointment visit on 16.2.17

Story from nhs.uk

"Frustrated hospital appointment visit on 16.2.17"

About: The Royal Victoria Infirmary / Ophthalmology

I arrived for an appointment this morning at the ophthalmology department. I was referred into the department by my local optician. I was booked in for my first appointment today and was under the impression it would be for an initial consultation with the consultant.

As a clinician myself I have had to cancel a full morning of my own patient's surgery.

Upon arrival at my appointment I was informed that I would need to have some eye drops put in today which would obscure my vision, so I would unable to drive. This is the first time this has been brought to my attention. The referral letter sent to me did not explain anything about having to have eye drops in today or the fact if I did have them I would not be able to drive my car.

When I tried to book in for my next appointment I was informed that the next available appointment they had would be July 2017! After a discussion I was able to rearrange for an earlier appointment. .

I feel that there needs to be more communication or interaction between the administrators and the treatment practitioners in order that patients are kept informed of the necessary factors which would affect their appointments to stop this happening to any of the other patients in future!

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Responses

Response from The Royal Victoria Infirmary 7 years ago
The Royal Victoria Infirmary

Submitted on 28/02/2017 at 08:40
Published on nhs.uk on 01/03/2017 at 02:35

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback on NHS Choices regarding your recent appointment at Newcastle Eye Centre.

We would firstly like to apologise that you did not receive the relevant advice about your appointment in order for you to fully understand the treatment involved and how this would affect your ability to drive afterwards. Please be assured that we are looking at the correspondence sent to patients as a matter of urgency. This piece of information was always included in the letter but unfortunately following a technical upgrade it ‘dropped off’ the bottom of the letter. It was noticed by the team at the beginning of January and they have been working hard to put a fix into place, which has now been achieved with a temporary solution, until more permanent arrangements are in place, which it is hoped will be within the next two months.

In such a busy department, appointment availability is continually monitored to ensure that patients are seen in a timely manner to meet their individual needs. Clinical staff work closely with administration staff to try to ensure that there is appropriate use of clinic time, and I would like to apologise that this was not your experience when you visited. If you have any ongoing concerns about your care and appointments, please do not hesitate to contact Julie Graham, Matron 0n 0191 2839812 who will be happy to help with your enquiry.

Once again, thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

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