"John Kilner Diabetic Unit"

I had an appointment for 16th January 2018 for a first Eye Screening Test at 3.40pm. I arrived at 3.45pm. The receptionist glanced at her watch and abruptly told me that the Screener had left as she thought I was not coming. I was told to ring a telephone number in Farnham at the top of my appointment letter to make another appointment. She then went and checked if the Screener had actually left and came back to say she had. I left the building and rang the Farnham number at 3.52pm. The person I spoke to was very helpful and expressed surprise that I had been turned away.

There was an appointment prior to mine at 3.20 and as they take between 30 and 40 minutes there should have still been someone in the Clinic. He also told me that the Screeners are usually there until about 4.30. He was very apologetic but obviously there was nothing that he could do. He told me 10 minutes is usually allowed for a patient to be late. I could understand being turned away if I had been 20 minutes late but 5 minutes! The Screener hadn't even waited for five minutes, she'd already left!

On the same day but earlier in the morning I had another appointment at Epsom Hospital where I waited past my appointment time to be seen. I did not complain, it wasn't a problem. If patients are expected to wait for their appointments they should surely be given a window of ten minutes if they are late.

I know one hospital who give 15 minutes. My daughter also had a wasted afternoon as she accompanied me to the hospital as I was advised not to drive afterwards. I have now made another appointment but it is not until the first week of March. Overall, not a good first impression of this clinic. The receptionist could do with some extra training too.