"Appalling"

We are very sorry and concerned to hear about your mother’s experience of our ophthalmology service at Ashford. Usually the feedback we receive from patients is very positive about the service, which makes it particularly worrying to hear this was not the case for your mother. Without all the details it is difficult to comment, but it is possible the delay for your mother was due to the pupil dilating eye drops we give before surgery. All patients undergoing cataract surgery will require these and they take much longer to work in some people than others. So we are able to run an efficient operating list and offer surgery dates as soon as possible, several patients will arrive for each session at the same time. This is so the drops have time to work for everyone and we can keep good patient flow. Unfortunately this also means that some patients will experience a longer delay than others – but the nurse in charge should keep you well informed throughout your stay. We are very sorry that this does not appear to be the case during your visit. We would very much like to get the bottom of what happened during your visit and see if there are things we can improve upon in the future for other patients. We would appreciate an opportunity to speak with you in more detail and if you are willing to do so please contact Mandy Wilson, Eye Unit Sister, on 01784 884418.