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Waste of time

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"Waste of time"

About: Watford General Hospital

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Took 2 weeks to get an urgent appointment referred from the GP and I only got that appointment by chasing them up. GP said I needed a particular type of scan and referred me to the Opthamology department because of severe headaches and as i'd had Central Serous Retinopathy a year or so earlier concluded it could be linked.

Appointments were running late - 2 hours late! My appointment was for 2pm, at 3.30 the nurse came out to say they were running late....really? no kidding!

When my turn eventually came around the consultant wasn't interested in my case at all. Before even examining me, he said the headaches were due to needing reading glasses because i'm 46 and according to him everyone needs them at 46! I pointed out that i'd had an eye test 2 weeks earlier and they said I didn't need them yet and to come back next year.

He looked into my eyes and concluded there was no nerve damage however he wasn't going to give me the particular scan the GP requested as he didn't want it on their budget and he said the GP should have referred me to a neurologist.

There is plenty else I could say about the treatment I received because quite honestly the whole thing was rubbish and a total waste of time.

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Responses

Response from Watford General Hospital 11 years ago
Watford General Hospital

Submitted on 06/02/2013 at 15:25
Published on nhs.uk on 07/02/2013 at 04:15

Thank you for taking the trouble and time to comment on your difficult experience within Watford General's Opthalmology department, which we sincerely regret. We’re always concerned to hear of any patients or family members who are unhappy with the care and service they have received, and issues of this nature are taken very seriously.

Without full details of your specific case it is difficult to comment. But the importance of a wholly positive patient experience is one of our key objectives, and the issue of communication between our staff and patients is a fundamental area we’re working hard to improve in. Anything contrary to this is completely unacceptable. Owing to the differing nature of patient needs in the department, it does occasionally accumulate significant waiting times, and the department is actively reviewing appointment times to make them more manageable for all concerned.

We know that our senior clinical colleagues will want to thoroughly investigate your concerns, so we can look into what went wrong for you and your partner, and why. Apart from giving you some answers, if would also help put things right if we can. Therefore if you are willing to do so, please contact us directly at wherts-tr.complaintsteam@nhs.net . We will aim to thoroughly investigate these issues promptly, and provide you with a detailed response.

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