"Absoloutely nothing - the eye clinic is..."

What I liked

Absoloutely nothing - the eye clinic is a disgrace and in my opinion should be closed down so no other person has to go through what I am at the moment

What could be improved

Training of the staff so they know what they are doing. I visited in June as an emergency eye patient due to complication of catarct surgery. I was basically dismissed and 2 serious eye conditions were missed. This resulted in me suffering in extreme pain unecessarily for 1 month and the total loss of vision in one eye. I reattened in July once the sight had gone, and to me this is an emergency. I had to wait a further 7 hours to see someone. The doctor I saw was horrendous, showed no compassion, didnt explain anything, except to say that the retina had come off and the quicker they can reattach the more chance I had of getting my sight back. I had to wait a further 4 days before I could see someone - totally not acceptable and he could not explain why I had to wait so long. I suppose when you walk in and the doctor has their feet up it says it all. The nurse to be fair was very understanding and showed compassion.

The waiting area for the eye clinic is awful, just a corridor and extremely hot with not enough seats It is like a cattle market. One nurse was extremely rude to patients if they were sat/stood in the corridor near the rooms where consultants were working ( with the door open as its was too warm), I understand due to confidentiality you have to be careful but the manner in which people were spoken to was disgusting. It was very clear that the nursing staff were over worked, very hot, tired and irratable after long shifts in awful working conditions.

Anything else?

I actually paid to see my original consultant for a second opinion, and he explained everything that was happened but also suggested posturing until I saw the surgeon in Sheffield to prevent any further damage, he also did scans on the eye - why can't the NHS consultant do this you shouldn't have to pay to get good care.

I have been referred to Royal Hallamshire at Sheffield, and the team there are fantastic, however, due to the misdiagonises in June at DRI I am having to endure 3 operations to get my sight back, I am off work indfinately and have gone through a vast amount of upset and stress.

If anyone has eye problems, unless you are in the fortunate position to pay to go private, I would recommend that you travel to the eye casualty department at the Royal Hallmashire in Sheffield, as the staff are more superior and the team know what they are doing.

Sight is too precious to risk anyone at DRI pushing you through the 'cattle market' and not spending adequate time to diagnose conditions correctly.