Viewpoint: Making it on to the list

A few weeks ago, just as I was wondering what to write about for my next column, a subject was dropped right into my lap. A patient I will refer to from hereon as Mr X was referred by my colleague Clare for an NHS cataract operation last year.

My notes show that he called the practice several times in the weeks immediately following his referral to check that we had in fact sent it off, as he was surprised not to have received a letter from the hospital confirming his place on the list.

According to the notes, each time we checked on his referral and reassured him. We confirmed that the current wait was very long and that the hospital does not tend to write and let patients know that they are now on the list or give an idea how long they have left to wait. We did also tell him that he could call the hospital himself to check on his place on the list.