"QMC Eye Outpatients experience"

I went for an eye outpatient appointment recently with the visual field test scheduled for 10:35 and the actual appointment at 10:50. I had my husband with me for support as it was to check on something I was incredibly anxious about – he had taken the morning off to be there for me but had a 1:30pm train to make, which we assumed would be fine, even with a bit of (expected) wait.

Somehow, even though the waiting room was more empty than I’d ever seen a waiting room be (with about five other people in the whole room at maximum), especially in eye outpatients where it’s usually rammed, I didn’t end up coming out of my visual field test until about 11:10. We then moved to the smaller waiting room to await the consultant, where there were even fewer people waiting.

We sat patiently until about 12:15, when my husband understandably started to get concerned about getting to the train station on time. During that hour, hardly anyone was called, with a deafeningly loud television blaring at us to boot (a screen that would be much better put to use as a digital appointment update screen so that patients can at least know where they are in the queue/be informed of any delays). At 12:30, he got up and asked the nurse for information about what was happening, citing his train – she was very nice, but she seemed surprised/unaware of what was happening.

It was only then that the wheels were put in motion to get me seen by the consultant, although by the time I went into his office, it was 12:45. He of course had to perform the initial examination, place dilating drops in my eyes, and send me off for retinal photography. My husband had to leave me on my own in the waiting room for the retinal photography, with my eyes dilated (which I don’t do very well at all with as it always makes me even more anxious/light sensitive/unable to see) and so anxious that I was shaking and dizzy with my chest tight (to the point where I nearly stopped the consultant mid-consultation because I thought I was going to pass out), leaving me to finish the appointment by myself and make my way home by public transit barely able to see - as he was also my ride home.

Although the individual people that I saw during the course of my visit were lovely, the whole process seems completely disordered and unorganised, with zero communication to patients who are left to sit and wait in the dark, watching loads of staff walking around a near-empty waiting room toting folders back and forth while nobody is being called in for their appointment. It would make an absolute world of difference if, if there was a delay, a staff member could just take a few seconds to say what was happening and give a ballpark estimate of the additional time it would take. I understand that most of the people who are in eye outpatients are pensioners and thus are not under time pressure, but for people like my husband and me who are taking time off work, we would appreciate more organisation and communication please, which would have made a world of difference in how anxious and upset I felt.

Delays happen. I get it – I work for the NHS and I am the first to defend it. But even showing patience and giving the benefit of the doubt as I always try to do, I feel this was an unorganised mess. The addition of something simple, such as a screen that shows where people are in the queue or even a nurse or HCA or receptionist coming out and saying “Terribly sorry, but it looks like it’ll be another 20min delay as we only have X consultants in today” (or whatever reason), would save a massive amount of stress, anxiety, and upset.