New eye clinic opens at the Hospital

poppy said :

Perhaps they should fix the existing eye clinic services before they attempt to expand on them…

I too have had to travel to Sydney to see doctors simply because the eye doctors in Canberra are incompetent, lazy and just want to do whatever surgeries make them the most money.

Are you saying they are lazy eye doctors?

The Hospital eye clinic is the one service there that seems to operate well from our experiences with it. Granted the actual operation was performed at Calvary.

Good work Katy Gallagher, since you have expanded the eye clinic service as you boasted to provide injections for macular degeneration, without providing any extra doctors, the eye clinic less than a year later is no longer accepting any new patients, according to the following article: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/no-letup-on-act-health-services-20121002-26xu0.html I wonder if the eye clinic is even providing emergency services any more, or providing services to existing patients whose referral is more than 12 months old. Probably they are not, considering just a few years ago when the public clinic was supposedly accepting new patients, I waited a week, and was forced to see a private ophthalmologist, for a corneal ulcer and was told I should be “grateful” and was “lucky” for being able to see one so promptly. This despite the fact that they dumped me after the “emergency” was over with no follow up care and left me with a chronic condition that I have to deal with entirely on my own, I am supposed to be “grateful”… the Canberra Hospital eye clinic was the only place in Canberra where the eye doctors would even give me the time of day but now because I haven’t been there in a while I guess I won’t be able to get back in and will have no choice but private eye docs in Sydney… good work Katy…

My favourite part is despite the increase in numbers of patient beings seen and despite the physical upgrade (which is still inadequete when you know the numbers); they haven’t hired additional staff.

I didn’t see this coming…

Perhaps they should fix the existing eye clinic services before they attempt to expand on them.

A boast of 1,100 patient visits is meaningless. How many of those patients actually received effective treatment?

Last time I went to the eye clinic the hospital pharmacy was unable to provide any of the prescriptions I was given (this is for stuff you can’t get at a regular pharmacy). I was told it would be months before they could provide the scripts and they couldn’t give me a date either. I was given a follow up visit in 2 months – in 2 months I wouldn’t have even begun my treaments. Needless to say I won’t be bothering to return. Sadly private eye clinics in Canberra are even worse and simply want to perform lasik surgeries. I too have had to travel to Sydney to see doctors simply because the eye doctors in Canberra are incompetent, lazy and just want to do whatever surgeries make them the most money.

Perhaps as a government they need to get their act together. I have had two rather disasterous, buck passing experiences lately with outpatient clinics losing referrals after assuring me that they had them and then the classic “we don’t provide that service after x o’clock and the junior on that day shouldn’t have made the appointment”… ‘well, you know, it is the public health system”….. no I would call it incompetence just quietly. Roll on my privtae health insurance kicking in after the nominated 12 year waiting period for pre existing conditions……it’s just a no win, no win situtation……….

I have to love how we either officially open things that then aren’t used for months; or we officially open things that have already been in use for months.

Perhaps, as a town, we need to work on our timing?