"Hours arranged for staff, not patients"

Emergency referral for a detached retina. Only two on-call surgeons and both were on holiday. Had to travel to Birmingham for operation (a different Trust and 70 miles from home). Operation seems to be successful (well done surgical team in Birmingham). To reduce travel, I asked for two-week follow-up to be in Shrewsbury. I checked this at the beginning of the week and the nurse I spoke to told me an appointment would come by post.

As no appointment had come by end of the week I phoned again. I was in a telephone queue for an hour. Eye clinic said I needed to talk to Booking team. Booking Team said there was no appointment as they had not received a referral, and I should contact the other hospital. However, there was no-one available in Birmingham to talk to as they seem to finish at 3:00 on a Friday. As nobody could help, and as a last resort I phone the eye clinic again as the nurse has suggested. However, they too had gone home for the weekend too (about 3:30)