I HAVE absolute great respect for Southampton General Hospital.

For medical reasons, my wife is a fairly frequent attender and the attention is excellent. However, the Eye Hospital is a totally different proposition: it is, frankly, a shambles.

Appointment times are a total lottery and for the third time I have personally left the hospital having waited well over two hours without having seen anyone. For the privilege, I have had to pay in excess of £4 for car parking.

During my wife's last attendance she was asked "how are you managing your diabetes?

She does not have diabetes and has never declared so.

This was followed by "how are you coping with your eye drops? Six months before that, she was told to stop using them.

During my last aborted visit I asked several other people how long they had been waiting. Two to three hours was not unusual, and I quickly discovered that many people had appointments at exactly the same time to see the same consultant or one of his team. How on earth does that work?

When attending early morning appointments, it is not unusual to see the board showing the clinic is running 45 minutes late. How can a clinic be running that late 15 minutes after opening?

As I write this letter, I am awaiting a call from my disabled granddaughter. She had an appointment at 2pm today; it is now 4.20pm and she still has not seen a consultant.

Massive investments has been made at the hospital in recent times and this is to be applauded. May I suggest some of this money is directed in improving things at the Eye Hospital, it is desperately needed.

Terry Butler

West End