"Unbearable waiting time"

I take my parent every 3 months to the Sydney Eye Hospital Outpatients Department for eye injections to treat their macular degeneration problem. The doctor there is great, but the nurses and the whole process leading up to seeing the doctor and finally getting the injections is, in my opinion, very disappointing.

My parent is paralysed on the entire right side of their body due to a stroke, is frail and is an elderly person who is also a diabetic. They have to be in a wheelchair because of their inability to use the right side of their body. They have multiple other issues including a lower back problem and require toilet breaks more often.

We always arrive on time and are made to wait, which is understandable, but I feel they treat my parent like an able-bodied person, when they are disabled and in a wheelchair and are forced to wait for hours. The whole process takes about 5 to 6 hours, sometimes longer and so my parent has to sit there in their wheelchair and wait their turn like all the other younger, able-bodied people. I spoke to the nurses about my concerns in a nice way with a nice tone, and asked if they can speed up the process for my parent because they suffer medically and emotionally whilst waiting for extended periods for their turn in their wheelchair. They can’t get up and walk around to stretch their legs due to being disabled and in a wheelchair, need regular toilet breaks and have back problems, not to mention that they are a diabetic and an elderly frail person. But the nurses seem very rude and uncaring. Their response was, you have to just wait, it’s a free service. Just wait!

We attend every three months now, where previously we were going every month. This has been ongoing for the past 6 years. My parent is normally the only person there who is in a wheelchair, who is still made to wait while other able-bodied younger people get seen before my parent. I also raised my concerns with the nursing unit manager who I felt was not very helpful. I feel they too had a disappointing attitude, so I don’t feel anything is going to improve.

I feel the nurses have a poor attitude, lack compassion and care, and don’t know how to treat suffering disabled, frail and old people. Both my parent and I dread the feeling of going there for their next appointment because of the unreasonable long waiting times that further exacerbate my parent's problems and for not being treated appropriately.