"I feel like I have had a third rate service"

18 months ago I noticed that when looking at horizontal lines using my left eye, there was a distinct egg shaped 'bump' in the middle of the line.

I booked an appointment with my optician, who recommended I pay a visit to the local eye casualty department to get checked ASAP and avoid waiting for a referral .

I duly paid a visit to eye casualty and had a scan, the results being that 'there was a build up of fluid behind the eye' and was advised that if it got worse, to go back immediately. They also told me that my results where 'stored on the system and that I'd receive a follow up appointment after six weeks'

Six weeks and more passed, no appointment received, so I went back to see the optician who wrote to my GP to get a referral to eye hospital.

No appointment ever arrived so I went to see my GP who chased it up - eye casualty said they could find no evidence of my visit, or the results of the scan. I wasn't on the system. They appeared to have being unhelpful towards my GP.

He arranged an appointment with the eye hospital, and I was seen within a month (if I remember correctly)

I saw a consultant nurse who arranged further scans, and was seen briefly by a consultant who explained that I needed cold laser surgery to try and correct the problem.

I didn't think that things were explained fully enough to me, the consultation seemed hurried.

I was seen a few days later for the laser surgery, and was there around four hours, most of which was waiting on seats in the corridor outside treatment rooms - eventually after some pre-op treatments I sat in a darkened room with my chin on a rest, my eye lid held open with a lens, and the consultant switched on the desktop laser machine, except it wouldn't turn on - at this stage they became agitated and banged the machine up and down on the desk until it turned on - not what you need in such a vulnerable position and about to have your eye lasered.

I have had three follow up appointments since, and have always being asked questions about my treatment that they should know if they had read the notes.

No one ever writes to let me know the results of the follow ups, it's more a case of 'if there's something wrong we'll let you know.!

To me this seems to have been a third rate service in some ways ......