“I’d had an operation on my toe joint and I’d gone to have stitches taken out. I’d dutifully waited for an hour and I’d asked when my appointment was going to be and they’d said ‘Soon, soon, we’re running a bit late but soon’.
“I didn’t know what was going on, but eventually I was asked through. I had waited over an hour and a half and I was one of many.
“They said they were short of nurses. They also said that a couple of patients had fainted and made appointments longer than expected.
“Of course these things happen but at the very least we just needed information about what was going on. The thing is, I’d always sing the praises of the hospital - everybody does round here - it’s very friendly, it’s very efficient but it just needs to pay a little bit more attention to the patients’ experiences.
“So I decided to put my story on Care Opinion"
“The hospital replied to my story and said that they are going to keep patients better informed of the times by having big screens where they will actually post whose appointments are coming up and who is running late so that patients will be able to go to the coffee lounge. Then in the coffee lounge they will also be able to see there on another screen when their time comes up.
“So it might not seem like a huge success in the grand scheme of things but hopefully it’s a good thing for the next patient waiting in out patients.”
“I believe in Care Opinion because what I want is real interaction and that’s what you get. For me it is a better option than a formal complaint – that very few people want to do that partly because they might have to go back to the hospital and they worry that they might get treated badly if they complain and partly because it’s hassle.”
Read George's original Care Opinion story, and the response from the hospital.
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