Yesterday I had an appointment at the eye clinic at my local hospital - Croydon University Hospital. This is a routine 6 monthly appointment to check that a macular scar on the lens of my right eye is still stable and not got any worse.
The appointment time was 11.00 and the hospital transport was booked to pick me up at 9.00. Well eventually this arrived at 10.30 - gggrrrrr - but we still had time to get to the hospital.
We had to pick an old lady up at a care home on the way, so whilst I was being loaded, the amublance driver rang ahead to make sure she would be ready when we got there. We arrived at the care home only to find that she was not ready. So after waiting for her to be bought down, we then find that the person going with her as her carer was also not ready.
So after wasting 20 minutes, we set off again and were only 15 minutes late getting to the hospital. Now what I especially hate about the transport to my local hospital is that they refuse to take me in my powered wheelchair. So I have to use my manual wheelchair, which is uncomfortable, and I cannot move myself in as I do not have the upper body strength.
So I was put into the "Transport Lounge" - read as Patient Dumping Ground - to wait for a porter to take me to the eye clinic.
The porter comes in with a patient returning from a clinic, and promptly runs away. He returns 10 minutes later with another patient and is asked by one of the ambulance staff to take another patient to a clinic. About 15 minutes later he returns, and is about to disappear when I point out to him that I need to go up, and by now I am 45 minutes late for my appointment. His response is to say"I am busy," and to walk off.
It's at times like these that it is probably a good thing that I cannot walk, because if I could have caught up with him I may well have hit him.
Anyway I spoke to the manager of the transport crews, and he kindly took me up to the eye clinic.
First off they put some eye drops in to dilate the pupils so that the Doctors can examine the eyes better. These eye drops sting a bit but worst of all is that as your pupils are so dilated the sun-light actually hurts your eyes, when you go outside. Not that that was going to be a problem for me, for sometime.
I then had to wait nearly 2 hours to see a Doctor. When I got in her room she examined my eyes, checked the pressures in my eyes and then queried why I hadn't had a scan done. Well no one had asked me to have one so I pointed out that I had been waiting for 2 hours to see her and that frankly if a scan was required, one of the nurses should have said so. If she wanted a scan done that I wasn't prepared to wait around as I'd already wasted so much of my day, and she'd have to make another appointment.
Rather taken aback, she said there wasn't any change in the scar since last time, so the scan probably wasn't worth doing. Good Girl!
So then I had to wait for a porter to take me back to the "Transport Lounge". Eventually an ambulance driver collected me as they were waiting to take me home.
Finally I got home just after 15.00.
So for a 5 minute appointment I had spent 4 and a half hours out, not forgetting the 1 and a half hours waiting for the ambulance. This is time I will never get back.
Anyway I won't have to go back for another 6 months.
So that was my hugely frustrating Wednesday.
I realise this is out of sequence but hopefully tomorrow I'll write about Tuesday and post a video of what is truely a sensaitional day. Bet you can hardly wait!
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