Share review of Whipps Cross University Hospital

Whipps Cross University Hospital 2018-03-19 Person 1 5 0

I am writing regarding the treatment my mother has received at the Whipps Cross. She is an elderly patient with glaucoma and associated complications which in the past year has been made worse by the lack of regular monitoring due to repeat appointment cancellations or not even been sent an appointment until it has been chased by her family member. As a result we have had to take her to A&E at least 6-7 times in the past year. Last appointment she had in February 2018 and at that point we were told by the doctors that she will need to be seen in 2 months time because one of the eye drops she needed to take was stopped and it was important that her pressure was monitored again as her pressure was very high previously. As we had not received appointment letter, I phoned to find out. After being given 4 wrong numbers to ring different teams, I finally managed to speak to someone in the appointment centre who said she would try and find out. She informed that my mother was not even put on any appointment lists and if I wanted to book then there was no appointment until mid July. She was very helpful and I found out from her that if I had not phoned then she would have not received any appointments and we would have just been left waiting. I understand that the eye centre is under enormous pressure but it would be helpful if the patients were kept informed so at least they could start making alternative arrangements. Most of your patients will be elderly and I hate to think of patients who have no one to chase up appointments.