"Efficiency in seeing patients at the Macular Degeneration Clinic, Derby Royal"

Waiting times at the macular degeneration clinic averaged 3+ hours. Most of the patients are very elderly, have carers to support them, and in addition to impaired sight frequently have a variety of significant medical problems. There are no coffee facilities at the weekend.

The staff were very nice indeed, but the 6 administrative staff seemed to have nothing to do. The nurses only leapt into action every 6 minutes when a patient had to move waiting areas (why?). It seemed like otherwise they just chatted to admin staff.

Surely, this must be one of the easiest clinics to plan? You can only attend if invited, and frankly some patients won't make it to their appointment through illness etc, so numbers should be smaller than bookings. It seems crazy that it should take 3 hours to see a patient for 10 minutes! I think that the organisation of this clinic is unbelievable. It is 2014, why are nurses pushing trolley loads of notes around, it is what computers are designed for?

I wanted to weep, the patients are elderly, stressed by eye injections, and kept hanging around for long periods with no access to food or drinks. The day must last forever for those poor admin staff with nothing to do, and the doctors seemed to be run ragged. Who project manages this then? I can only suggest retraining and a lesson in empathy. Please sort this out quickly.