"Very poor, very disrespectful and discourteous."

What I liked

The lovely lady who greeted me at the door on my arrival, showed me to the reception desk and told me who the doctor was I would see. Would that all hospital staff had met her high standards.

What could be improved

I propose that in the next training session for out-patient clinic staff, attention should be given to providing information to patients about waiting times, and delays caused by doctors failing to attend their clinics, at the earliest possible time. I propose also staff should be trained not to discuss how chaotic their systems are in earshot of patients unless and until they have informed patients. I propose that where doctors absent themselves from appointments, patients should be told of this the moment they arrive at reception. I propose that this website list Ophthalmology in its list of treatment specialisms. I propose that since many if not most of the patients concerned are older they be treated with respect. I offer myself as a resource to help train the staff concerned in these basic procedures. A hospital should offer higher service standards than a budget airline.

I have read your moderation rules: I suggest you adopt the standards of decency and civility you impose on others.

Anything else?

I had an out-patient/clinic appointment for 1405 on Friday 6th January 2012, in ophthalmology. I arrived 10 minutes early. The reception desk checked my name, handed me a pager and told me to wait. No other information about waiting times, possible delays, or the reasons for them was offered. At 1415 a nurse invited me by name to take a very simple eye test; "when next you're called", she said, "it will be to see the doctor".

At 1435 she called me, and invited me to sit in a small waiting room with 6 others. There was no doctor. She offered no apology for the delay; she offered no reason for it. All of us in the room, however, could hear her from time to time discussing with a colleague the problems she was having because "a doctor hadn't turned up". At 1505, I asked he if she knew when I'd be seen, or why my appointment had not been kept by the hospital. She confirmed a doctor had failed to turn up, that I would have to wait even longer and that there were severe delays and a backlog because of the absence of a doctor. I left, and declined the offer of "another appointment" since I doubt the ability of the hospital ever to keep to its side of the appointments contract.