"A few suggestions for improvements"

I had an appointment at Moorfields on 7 November 2017.

I had been referred by my GP because my optician found the pressure in my eyes raised in April.

My GP tried to get an appointment at Moorfields St Georges (my local hospital) without success, & in the end referred me to the main hospital.

This incurred a long journey and having to pay the congestion charge and parking fees as I am not very mobile.

Positive feedback:

I was seen within 2.5 hours and discharged.

I received good care.

Suggestions:

No-one at any point told me what to expect or what would happen next.

Only two staff told me their names (the doctor and the specialist who did the eye scan).

Only one addressed me by my name (the doctor).

No-one told me the results of any tests until I saw the doctor.

The doctor had no idea of my history, even though I had received laser treatment for incipient close angle glaucoma at St Georges, and had been kept waiting an unacceptable amount of time before I got an appointment (in fact, Moorfields brought my appointment forward as "urgent" once my GP had made the referral to the main hospital).

I understand how much pressure the hospital is under.

However, the suggestions I am about to make cost nothing, not even in terms of time, and would make for a less stressful experience for all patients.

1) All staff should introduce themselves and speak to patients by their name.

2) The member of staff who has first contact with the patient should explain the sequence of tests and that the patient will not know the outcome of those tests until they see the doctor at the end of their visit, who will review them all and will have an overview.

They should also explain that tests have to be done in a certain order and that some waiting around is inevitable.

I make these suggestions because

a) I had had to fight to get an appointment at all, knowing that glaucoma is a dangerous condition.

b) This made me anxious about the outcome of my visit.

c) Most of the time I felt like a non-person (and even rather a nuisance) - I think this is because staff feel under pressure and measures need to be taken to help them deal with this.

Lastly, since I was referred because of what was obviously a temporary raise in pressure in my eyes, a simple pressure test was probably all that was necessary, saving everyone time and the NHS a great deal of money. The doctor told me that the pressure tests done by opticians using a "puffer" is unreliable, and if this issue were addressed it would result in fewer unnecessary referrals such as mine, and save the NHS a lot of money.

There were many patients in the hospital that day who clearly had serious problems. I did not want to waste NHS time and money, nor did I want to be treated as a non-person on a conveyor belt..

I am grateful for the care I received, but felt the whole system was inefficient and impersonal.

I hope these comments are useful.