Another Waiting Room #10

Well, the NHS works in mysterious ways.

Mrsfb had a text message on Sunday saying she had an appointment today at Cheltenham. No other details, and no letter about it in the post. We phoned yesterday and found out that, as we had hoped, it was an appointment about her glaucoma laser eye treatment referral, where the consultant we had seen privately had basically referred her to himself with his NHS hat on. We went along expecting just a general discussion to get her back into the NHS system, but after an eye test and field test the laser treatment was offered, there and then. Although we were expecting the consultant to do the treatment she went ahead and had it done. The doctor we saw was very nice and said he could make her an appointment with the consultant, but that would probably take another month and it still didn't seem certain that the consultant himself would do the laser procedure. Also we would have had another month or so of anxiety, so this way it hadn't been something to worry about. And if we rescheduled that would have been a wasted appointment really, that someone else on the waiting list could have had.

The procedure only took a few minutes for each eye. The laser room was behind the door in the middle of the blip. We have to go back now in a month or so to see if it has worked. There is an 80% success rate apparently.

The hospital could do with some better waiting room signs. We had to check ourselves if we were in the right place and while we were waiting several patients came up to the desk to ask for directions. One couple had been up and down the stairs to different rooms several times. It turned out their appointment was actually tomorrow, which explained why no one knew where they should be. And at one point an interpreter turned up but unfortunately the patient she had been booked for didn't. Unless he/she was lost somewhere else in the hospital.

In other news grandson Joe has been to hospital too today, to have his head glued! He starts school this September and today his teacher did her home visit which is something they do these days apparently. While she was there he fell over in the lounge, and cut his head!

One year ago:
Come On Tiger