A WEYMOUTH pensioner has hit out at Dorset County Hospital after his eye appointments were cancelled three times.

Raymond Wilson, 86, lives alone in Preston and said that unless a kindly neighbour takes him out to the shops he is stuck in the house.

He cannot see very far and has been waiting for an eye appointment so that he can hopefully have cataract surgery.

Earlier this month DCH told the Echo it had been experiencing some issues with scheduling ophthalmology appointments ‘in a timely way’ but was doing everything it could to rectify the situation.

It said they would be writing to everyone affected to explain and confirm appointments as soon as possible.

Mr Wilson said he has had three appointments cancelled, the most recent being in August, and he is yet to hear when his rescheduled appointment will be.

Mr Wilson said he went to Dorset County Hospital in June last year and was told to come back at Christmas when they would see if they could sort out an operation.

He then contacted his GP after he received a letter following his December appointment saying he would not have to go back for 12 months.

This was brought forward to July – but then he received another letter saying the appointment had been cancelled and rescheduled for August.

This appointment was also cancelled, Mr Wilson says, and so far he has not received another date.

He disagrees with the hospital, which says he ‘declined’ the August appointment.

He said: “I can’t go anywhere. I have to go with people to do my shopping. I live on my own.”

Mr Wilson said he cannot drive any longer and if it wasn’t for a kindly neighbour, or the Preston Angels community group helping him out, he would not be able to get to the supermarket.

He said he had suffered a few falls because he could not see and said he should have had the surgery by now.

He said: “I am trapped. It’s not very nice. My independence has gone completely now. I’m frightened to go too far.”

Contact us, says hospital

A spokesperson for Dorset County Hospital said: “Mr Wilson was referred by his GP to look at the possibility of surgery and most recently was given an appointment to come in and discuss this in August.

“He declined this appointment and is now on a waiting list to have this rescheduled. We cannot list patients for a procedure until we have assessed their suitability and discussed this with them.

“One of our consultants has been in touch with Mr Wilson’s GP, but we would encourage Mr Wilson to contact us if he is still concerned.”