I rang Gloucester hospital to make an appointment for OH to have his ears syringed. He needs this doing regularly as he gets really deaf.
I was told they can't make any appointments as ENT is closed and they don't know if they will be opening before Christmas.
This is really ridiculous, what are patients meant to do in an emergency?
We can get things like ear syringing done at the local doctors surgery.There is a Nurse /Practitioner at the surgery who does such things. I thought most surgery's had similar arrangements, they call them 'treatment centers'. Or Ear syringing is easy to do yourself , you can buy ear / nose syringes at any pharmacy. Just use plain clean warm water.
Lydney & District Hospital has an ENT clinic. Is that the one you were seeking an appointment at or was it Gloucester Hospital itself? (The phone number for bookings is the same one for both hospitals).
Just been corrected by OH. He doesn't have them syringed, he has a more complicated method of vacuuming which surgeries and minor hospitals do not have.
They don't all have one who does ears. I made appointment for Mrs B. to have her earS done, when we got there we were told they will only do one ear on any given day, and unless it's been oiled for at least 4 days beforehand they won't even do that, nice of them to tell us beforehand.
If all else fails, SpecSavers in Gloucester can remove ear wax by microsuction (which is the favoured technique these days, it seems) but it costs £35 per ear. (The SpecSavers stores in Ross-on-Wye & Monmouth don't offer the service. Gloucester is your nearest).
Last time he had it done he was told his ear canal was so narrow it was the width of a needle. When it fills up with wax he is totally deaf, his hearing aids have no effect at all. It is difficult for him and so frustrating for me. The art of spontaneous conversation is dead. I have to repeat everything umpteen times, usually shouting quite loud.