Firstly I want to thank everyone involved in the eye clinic at North Devon District Hospital for their kindness and support they have given my mum. She has glaucoma, wet macular disease and cataracts. She has to have regular injections in her eyes for her macular disease and yesterday had her first cataract operation. The staff are all excellent and the facilities clean and spotless and everyone has been wonderful.
I have two questions. Firstly, what steps are taken to ensure the hospital knows if the patient lives with dementia - either early stages that have not been diagnosed or is well hidden by the patient? If dementia has been diagnosed, does the hospital know this? The number of eye drops that have to be administered following a cataract operation is enormous and someone who is having memory problems would struggle to remember when to take all of these drops and to remember the instructions given to them when in hospital, especially as they may not be able to read the written ones. They may even end up taking far more than necessary.
Secondly, does the hospital ensure that the patient has someone available to help them open the eye drop bottles and put in the drops when they are at home? Some of the tops are nearly impossible to remove and if your sight is poor following the operation or you have difficulty using your hands, then getting access to the drops is nigh on impossible. If a patient goes home by a taxi or other transport they may not have a spouse or family member on hand in the home to assist with this. Luckily mum lives at home with us so she does have help, but some people don't.
Many thanks.
"Excellent staff and facilities"
About: North Devon District Hospital / Ophthalmology North Devon District Hospital Ophthalmology EX31 4JB
Posted by Tiddy Pasty (as ),
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See more responses from Jayne Kruszewski
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