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“I Visited A&E at St Georges in Tooting on Friday 27th...”

written by kirsty88 on 28/10/2010

I Visited A&E at St Georges in Tooting on Friday 27th August with a very red, light sensitive eye. I can't fault the Doctors in the A&E department, they ran a few basic tests and referred me straight to the eye clinic there (St George's has a Moorfield Eye Clinic). I waited for quite a while at the clinic, but nothing out of the ordinary. When i did get to see a Doctor i was diagnosed with Uveitis, and inflammatory condition of the inner eye. I had to spend quite a while having different drops put in and different tests - all good, great to be thorough, except throughout this the Doctor was chatting to his colleagues over my head and continually wandering off. He did not at any point explain to me the implications of Uveitis, just that i 'wouldn't go blind'. I also had drops put in my eye that seriously impaired my vision, and when i asked if i should get someone to come and collect me, i was told no, it would be fine - in actual fact i still couldn't see by the time i had finished. All of this was fine and not a huge problem, Doctors are busy etc etc. Where they really fell down was aftercare. I was told to come back in 6 weeks. I was a little concerned about my condition and spoke to a contact in the field. I was informed that the condition was much too serious to leave for 6 weeks and that i should be seen again within a few days. They recommended a different hospital i should visit. I then visited St Thomas' in Waterloo, who were much more attentive. They made follow up appointments within days and i have now seen a consultant twice. One one of the appointments i was told that my eye wasn't responding to the treatment and they changed my medication.. if i had waited for my appointment at St Georges i would have been none the wiser. Uveitis is a really serious condition (causes 10% of blindess in USA) and so I feel the aftercare i received from St Georges was ridiculous. In addition to this i also received a letter from them cancelling the follow up appointment i had made and rescheduling it for 6th November. A full 10 weeks after my original complaint. In this time i have had 4 different appointments at St Thomas' and no-one at St Georges. I would never recommend anyone to visit this clinic, i was provided with hardly any information, very little attention and no aftercare whatsoever.