"Unsuitable waiting room system"

Recently, my spouse had an outpatient appointment at the Clinic Cataract for a doctor early afternoon. We didn't leave for another 3 hours. 

There were so many people, there weren't enough chairs for people to sit down. My spouse has a very bad back so they can’t sit for long, but they couldn’t walk around cause there’s no room to walk around. There were many elderly and frail people and they just sit there for all that time.

In my opinion, the system is really bad. You go in and book in when you arrive. You aren't told where you are on the list and you get called in randomly. Nobody makes any announcements about running late or apologising for being so late. 

After 2.5 hours of waiting, I asked a staff member where my spouse was on the list. They told me there were three people ahead of my spouse which I thought was good to know. Then after that, another 6 people went ahead of my spouse. I thought they might be an emergency or had another need so I asked the staff member again where my spouse was on the list. The staff member said you’re on top of the list tut then 2 other people went in there before my spouse.

There is also no water provided in Clinic 2 (though there is in Clinic 1). If you’re sitting there, you can’t leave and go to the toilet or get a drink of water because if you leave and they call you in and you’re not there, you are put to the bottom of the pile. I've seen that happen to someone who had ducked out of the room - they weren't there so the staff member put their file to the bottom of the pile.

We have been going for years and appreciate the service but I feel the system is silly. There were an elderly couple sitting near us. I believe one of them was the carer for the other who seemed to have cognitive difficulties. The carer could not leave their partner there to so much as get a drink. My child came and sat with us for a while and they went and bought this couple a drink each. In my opinion, that's not good enough and it's not right that that's the only way they can get a drink. 

I feel there is no proper communication. I know they are busy but I believe there are too many people booked into the clinic. It's so busy and it seems as though everyone is rushing around and you can’t even see out.

It’s the not knowing.

But the other major problem is that we live at least 4 hours away which becomes a full day's trip due to the availability of public transport. It can be hard to do the visit in 1 day when you have to wait so many hours before being seen. 

I have spoken with other patients in the waiting room on other occasions and they have said the same thing. That priority for people who come a very long way. Logistical stuff to arrange to get there and back with public transport.

There does not seem to be any process for prioritising patients who live outside of Sydney to let them do the trip in one day. You can’t go to an outpatient clinic anywhere else as they are only offered in Westmead and Sydney. I don’t need to be first all the time but just earlier in the list perhaps so we could back in one day. 

The patients seem to be all herded in and I feel the system is not good. There used to be a row of seats where patients who are less able could wait while waiting to book in as there is often a wait of up to about 20 minutes. But now they have to stand there all that time waiting to book in. It seems to me that the hospital needs someone with organisational skills who can come up with something better.

I also see a lot of people from diverse backgrounds. They seem to be very apprehensive about asking about what the processes are and there is no-one there to explain what is happening. The thing that I feel the Clinic's management are missing is that many people are older, can't see very well and can't hear properly.  

In my opinion, the thing that is missing is the understanding that older people can’t move fast, they need to have things explained properly to them, such as being advised that they can get a drink of water or go to the toilet. It’s not having the information that's the problem. 

I've been told by staff that the order of seeing people is only random. I gave seen someone go in very quickly after arriving ahead of people who have been waiting for so many hours.

Other organisations have the system where you are given a number and wait for your number to be called. If they could just make it easier for people – especially those who cannot cope. I think they may need to put a maximum number of people they can have in the day but I believe management insists that staff meet the requirement of seeing so many people each day.