Ophthalmic Department eyes increased number of operations

Michael Calleja

Oct 13th 2011, 15:49

Could this be the reason why my appointment was behind schedule?

Today I had an appointment with Dr. Mercieca at 1:50 at St.James in Sliema. This appointment was a follow-up to an eye laser surgurey I had done by him two month ago at the tune of roughly €2,000. I arrived 10 minutes early to hopefully avoid delays, however after notifying the receptionist I arrived I was asked to take a seat in the lounge area. After a maybe 10 minutes a lady walked over to the reception counter, seeming rather frustrated she asked the receptionist, "How much longer do I have to wait? I have been here since 12pm! " The reply was obvious, "I don't know". As she walked back I could hear more people saying how long they have been waiting, their frustration, etc. and all were waiting for the same Doctor.

I quickly got up, went over to the receptionist, left my waiting form at the reception and walked out.

I find it disgraceful on behalf of St. James Hospital that after paying for a service I have to waste time waiting about for what could potentially have been another two hours. Seeing this article I now see the reason as to why my appointment and many others may have been delayed. However this might not be the reason at all. There could be many reasons Dr. Mercieca did not arrive on time at St. James Hospital for his scheduled appointments, one reason for sure would not have been the Gozo ferry today! However, he could have been held up at this inauguration, maybe he had patients to see at Mater Dei or maybe he got stuck in traffic. Whatever the reasons, purely the lack of communication, coordination and the traditional approach of squeezing more than one can handle into their daily schedule are key notes here.

If St. James is prepared to send me an SMS the day before so I confirm my attendance for an appointment (obviously for their benefit) then I hope they can invest in more real-time client satisfaction aspects and standards. Most patients who have appointments are required to make themselves available for a specific period of time to attend an appointment, prolonging their waiting time simply due a doctor being delayed is inexcusable in my opinion. While the doctor still gets his pay-check, the client has to deal with the lost hours waiting about. Since I am a paying customer isn't there a better way to advise clients on the status of their doctors to avoid unnecessary wasted time? Can you please streamline this area once and for all! Unfortunately, such issues are hardly ever addressed.

I mean I can bare waiting 15-30 minutes or even an hour, I would understand such delays. But realistically speaking, when a service gets delayed by two hours and counting, then there is something terribly wrong with the way such a service is being provided and it seems very little or no standards at all are being implemented to safeguard clients and provide better client satisfactions. All I can understand is that when it comes to crunch time and a service begins after such a delay, the client has to put up with the rushed service as practitioners speed up the process to catch up on the backlogs.

j brincat

Oct 13th 2011, 14:43

Prosit - that's why we pay taxes though our teeth!

(jb)

Joseph Galea

Oct 13th 2011, 13:43

Excellent news. It's amazing how news like this does not generate any comments.

Victor Vella

Oct 13th 2011, 13:08

Haqqkhom prosit. Ghax issa f`daqqa wahda kulhadd beda jara car.

Mark Galea

Oct 13th 2011, 11:21

The only missing thing ... a free Gozo Channel pass for all in the photo to board the ferry before everybody else :)