According to the BBC, Mavis Eldridge is undergoing scans on her right eye in Coventry, and having treatment in Birmingham for the same condition in her left eye.
Mrs Eldridge said that she was getting excellent treatment but that it was “silly” to be going to two hospitals.
Coventry’s University Hospital said that she was sent to Birmingham for “prompt treatment”. Mrs Eldridge is being treated for age-related macular degeneration but says that it is well known that if you have a macular problem in one eye, the other will be affected sooner or later. She said: “To me it is silly that I can’t be treated in Coventry for the same complaint, but in the other eye.”
A spokesman for University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said that there was a high demand for treatment which had led to “capacity issues”. They stated that the reason for the transfer was to make sure that the patient was treated promptly, stating that:
“The level of success in treating this condition is time dependent and this solution will prevent patients from deteriorating unnecessarily while waiting for appointments.”
It is a difficult balancing act for the trust, the ideal situation would obviously be that Mrs Eldridge’s treatment continue at the same hospital but if there is a risk that delaying treatment will worsen the condition then it needs addressing as soon as possible. When transferring from hospital to hospital it does increase the risk that a mistake will be made as there are more people dealing with treatment and medical notes are being passed from one hospital to another along with the patient. However, Mrs Eldridge has indicated so far that she is happy with the standard of treatment which has been provided and so long as that continues to be the case then there is no problem with what the trust have chosen to do.