"BHSCT Macular Clinic Review"

I accompanied my elderly grandmother to her appointment in the Macular Clinic in Fairview and write this review on behalf of both of us. We were both very impressed with care she received. Everyone was prompt and efficient. We were all finished up in 1 hour which was great considering how many different steps there are to this appointment. 

My grandmother recently began requiring a wheelchair for longer distances, everyone was very kind offering to wheel the chair for us, moving equipment to fit the chair in the rooms, and the venue was overall quite wheelchair accessible. I was always offered a seat in the treatment rooms or outside when appropriate.

In particular we want to highlight two nurses: Ani and Peter. both individuals went out of their way to be friendly, welcoming and professional. They spoke slowly and clearly (as my grandmother is hard of hearing) without being patronising. They spoke to her rather than presuming that she would want me to speak for her just because I accompanied her - this was totally appropriate as I was only there as her driver! Ani and Peter both had such lovely bedside manner. Both also exhibited excellent history taking and patient safety skills, double checking the 'exclusion criteria' with my grandmother before proceeding with her injection, and clarifying her medications and allergies thoroughly. They stood out through their friendly, welcoming nature and their attention to detail.

Something that could be improved is the parking at Fairview. this is a very busy clinic and there are only 4 parking spaces total. We had to park up in the main Mater carpark and were unable to find a disabled space which made getting the wheelchair in and out of the car more challenging. it's a significant walk from this carpark to Fairview, and in typical poor NI weather its difficult to keep my a wheelchair user warm and dry while pushing them through pouring rain and howling gale for 10min. after the appointment my grandmother was advised not to get any wind or draught in her eye after the injection for a few days - this is near impossible to achieve when I can't park the car anywhere near the door to the clinic. Would be great to see a better solution to the parking at Fairview in the near future, not only for convenience but also to improve patient outcomes after a delicate eye injection.