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"Damaging Administration"

About: Westmorland General Hospital

I am treated at the hospital for macular degeneration: i.e., my eyes are deteriorating over time and my sight getting worse.

I am making here a serious complaint that I hope will be addressed.

It is not about medical or support staff with and by whom I have been well treated in the hospital.

Treatment involves eye injections periodically, based on a scan each time: the period between injections is set by the consulting doctor according to her/his judgement of the state of the eye. My eyes are degenerating continually, it is possible for an injection to hold them stable for a period of time.

Time and time again I have had to complain that the period between injections is greater than the doctor's recommendation. This has meant, for example, an interval of 12 or more weeks when the recommended interval has been 8 or 10 weeks. Each time, I feel distressed that I am not able to get the injection at the time appropriate to the state of my eyes. This means that my eyes are degenerating faster than can be prevented if the interval between injections is arranged according to the doctor's recommendation.

In the most recent case, the doctor's recommendation was for an interval of 10 weeks. However, my next appointment comes after 16 weeks. In other words I shall be 6 weeks overdue for this injection. My eyes will be getting worse during this time.

I have spoken to the staff member who allocates appointments, ideally according to the doctor's recommendation. She tells me she is told by hospital administrators how many appointment can be given on any day at any time. Thus, administration controls what is possible according to scheduling, rather than what is needed medically. An outcome of this practice is that I lose my eyesight more rapidly than is preventable.

I ask all these administrators how they can sleep at night -- how would you feel if it was yourself, your child or your parent being denied the treatment that keeps their eyes stable for as long as possible at any time?

Thus, I ask for a system that allows treatment to be given according to a doctor's medical judgment, not according to administrative scheduling.

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Responses

Response from Westmorland General Hospital last week
Westmorland General Hospital
Submitted on 18/06/2025 at 14:16
Published on nhs.uk at 14:16


Hi there, thank you for getting in touch. We are really sorry to hear that you have not had a positive experience regarding the scheduling of your hospital appointments. We are keen to investigate further and respond directly to you. We would appreciate it if you could contact our Patient Relations team using the contact details here: https://www.uhmb.nhs.uk/get-in-touch/complaints-and-compliments to allow us to carry out that work. Thanks again and hope to hear from you soon.

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