"Lovely staff but poor admin and communication "

I had an appointment for cataract surgery at Andover Hospital on 25.11.24 after an initial appointment with a consultant at Winchester Hospital and pre-op assessment there. The admission letter (sent by post) gave me an admission time of 12.30 pm

Andover Hospital is in an inconvénient location 20 miles from home with no public transport available from our home so as I had been told not to drive myself, my husband drove me there despite suffering spinal pain (he has major spinal surgery scheduled tomorrow in Southampton). I had asked at my assessment appointment how long he might have to wait for me and was told 3 hours max but probably much less.

We arrived at 12.00 at Andover Hospital because of concern about potential traffic delays en route. Nobody was at the Day Surgery Unit reception and no staff who were able to check patients in appeared until after 12.30, by which time the small waiting area was full.

All five cataract surgery patients were later taken together to a waiting area outside the operating theatre to have our details checked and confirmed, eye drops applied, and consent forms signed.

I was the last patient to be operated on, not being taken into theatre until about 5 pm. By this time I was extremely tired of sitting in the same chair for four and a half hours and was thirsty and hungry since the instructions in the booklet I had been given at RHCH had said that on the morning of the operation I should have only a light breakfast and a drink, in case sedation was needed. I had thus had no food or drink since 9.30 am.

If I had had any idea that we would not be leaving the hospital until almost 6 pm, I would have asked my husband to leave me there at 12.30, go home, and return much later. As it was, because we had no idea how long the wait might be, he waited for me in Peaches cafe, far from ideal for his spinal problems, but we are grateful that he was allowed to continue sitting there after the cafe stopped serving.

The lady sitting next to me waiting for surgery had come even further than we had and said that at her previous appointment she’d had to wait six hours, as did her husband who was driving her.

While I very much appreciate the care of the clinical staff, with special thanks to the nurse who discharged me, I do not understand why the organisation and communication by hospital administration is so poor and inefficient. It must have been known that I was last on the list and would have a long wait so why could not I have been told this on arrival so my husband could have gone home instead of waiting in discomfort for hours?

Also, I find it incredible that in 2024 appointments for Andover hospital are only sent by post, whereas Winchester Hospital and my general medical practice routinely communicate by text, email and the NHS app. The waste of scarce NHS resources and inefficiency involved in sending out letters is alarming especially given that Andover is in the same Hospital Trust.