"Concerns about organisation for my mother's cataract operation"

I took my elderly mother to the Leicester Royal Infirmary recently.

The appointment was arranged for 10.30am, as were the appointments of 6 other people. We arrived at 10.25 am and there were 3 people that arrived after us, but my mother had number 7 on her file therefore she was the last to have the operation.

The first 10.30 appointment was called to theatre at 14.00 hrs. My mother was called at 15.45 hrs. Why on earth have 7 people with the same appointment time? My mother's wait was 5 hrs 45 minutes.

The beds that should have been used for the Cataract patients were occupied by other patients, so the plan was to take cataract patients from level 6 to level 2 after they had their tests and drops then bring them to level six for the operation then back down to level 2 for recovery. But there was not enough staff to do this, therefore it was a matter of sit where there is a space for recovery.

The staff were excellent, especially Jay, but they were all working under pressure due to the seeming bad organisation.

I think whoever is responsible for this department needs to look very carefully at their appointment system, as the majority of the patients were not very mobile elderly people and to be treated like seems disgusting. It must also be very distrerssing for the overworked wonderful staff.