Jury service

[Emelinep]

Has anyone with WAMD managed to obtain exemption from Jury Service in the UK? I’ve just had a summons and although my vision isn’t too bad at the mo, I’m not sure if I’d be able to see the face of the accused very clearly or see written evidence without really good lighting

Best wishes

Em

[MikeG1944]

Hi Emeline; I served on a jury decades ago and had various medical problems then, but it is extremely difficult to get out of it, and you have to have a very good reason to get exemption on medical grounds. But good luck; would be interested in knowing the outcome.

Mike.

[Emelinep in reply to MikeG1944]

Thanks Mike. I’m having injections this morning and will ring them after. My next appointment is likely to be the week I’m supposed to start JS.

[Becky_MacularSociety Partner]

Good Morning Emelinep,

It might be worth contacting the Jury Central Summoning Bureau on

0300 456 1024 or 020 7202 6800,

or by e-mail at [e-mail] quoting your juror’s number, to discuss your concerns with them, they should be able to discuss with you how they can help and what is in place to help those with a visual impairment.

Thanks

becky

Advice and Information

Macular Society

0300 3030 111

[fed13]

Getting (NHS) appointments are like gold dust so you wouldn't want to miss one for an injection because of Jury Service! On the balance of probabilities I think you should be exempt. Ask your Consultant. A letter from him/her might explain matters to the "Powers that Be".

I am constantly amazed at how people don't understand WAMD, and how important it is to get your injections and/or scans or check ups on time. I hand in my form for follow up in 4-6 weeks time, and am told the appointment will be sent out to me. When it doesn't arrive I phone and find I've been put on the waiting list". I have to beg, plead , nag to be given an appointment. It's always lack of capacity.

All the best Emelinep, and a hug. Please tell us how you got on.

This is likely to become more and more of a problem. I dread to think how the NHS will cope, let alone Jury Service, when the "Baby Boomers", or some of us, become the WAMD Boomers! I am researching this. xx

[MikeG1944 in reply to fed13]

I have a similar problem fed13; No problem with the injection appointments; they come when they are scheduled but the test and scan appointments just go on a waiting list. I phone up and tell them that if I don't get one before the injection one the consultant will have a big moan, they look on the list and find me one; last time they said 'we'll squeeze you in, can you come tomorrow?'. Truly amazing how they can manage it if they think they're going to have to take on the consultants.

[fed13 in reply to MikeG1944]

Hello Mike. I do feel sorry for the appointments staff; feel I'm twisting the tail of the monkey; instead of talking to the organ grinder! I also feel the patients that get the appointments are the ones who bully/cajole the appointments staff the hardest. (I'm not having a go at anyone here; just the failing system!) What I do now when I am told "lack of capacity; you're on the waiting list!" is ring up my consultant's (poor) secretary, who then emails the appointments staff, who then send me an appointment, but I still have to nag to get am earlier one; usually a cancellation.

We need a cross party Royal Commission to make sure these billions f ££££ being thrown at the NHS are used constructively to work out exactly how the NHS should be run.

This problem of "Hundred go blind while waiting for NHSs treatment" was so tellingly written up by Laura Donnelly (health correspondent Daily Telegraph 6/1/18).

I'm really interested to know about Jury Service. It can go on for weeks; also you can be called up, and left waiting; and the trial is postponed and then never takes place sometimes.

[MikeG1944 in reply to fed13]

Yes fed13; it's not the appointments staff who are at fault, just the whole system. When I saw the consultant for my injection he said have you had your pre op appointment for your cateract op; when I said no, hadn't heard yet he said ask the appointments sec on your way out. This was a week before Xmas and she said it'll be in the new year; a few days later an appointment arrived for Jan 2nd. It seems a word from a consultant and things get moving. However it's scheduled for March as there's quite a few waiting and mine is not urgent.

Hope you get your jury service sorted out, but from comments it doesn't seem that easy to get out of. When I did mine it was the hanging about that was boring, the case which only lasted the morning was quite interesting, and I got paid well for the time off.

[Ceri2]

Good luck Emeline. I did jury service a while ago despite being registered blind. I asked for a tour of the courtroom in advance and to have access to documents in large print. They were extremely helpful guiding me to and from the courtroom as needed, though after a couple of days the other jurors looked out for me! Alerting the court in advance made a huge difference.

[Emelinep]

Thank you everyone for responding to my Jury Service post. Unfortunately I had a bad reaction to the injection on Monday (the nurse used iodine despite warnings by me and injector) and now have a terrible cold so haven’t had the inclination to ring the jury people yet.

[fed13]

All the best Emelinep. The problem to me is not the eye sight, (tho' I'd have thought visual impairment would be a difficulty to Jury Service), it's missing vital appointments. Please let us know how you get on.

Apropos appointments, I had the devil's own job getting a scan appointment follow up 4/5 weeks time. Only by ringing and nagging did I get taken off the waiting (to go blinder list) and get a follow up in8/9 weeks. Needless to say I now need another injection urgently, in 2 weeks time. The likelihood of that is vanishingly small.

Not only, but also I am having a cataract done in my good eye, again urgently.

I am not looking forward to the next few weeks.

[Hidden in reply to fed13]

Sending a hug fed13 X

It constantly amazes me how much money is wasted in the NHS ( I work for it) on frankly useless management and IT systems that need manual intervention to be useful.

Having said that, there was a sign in my clinic saying 165 people didn't attend their appt in Dec which = 13 clinics worth of reviews/treatments. My xmas eve appt (already 4 weeks late) was cancelled by the hospital and rebooked to jan7th. I know sometimes it cant be helped but wish folk would let clinic know if they're not coming so others get a chance to have their slot. I work 3 floors up from my clinic - I can get there in under 5 mins lol.

[Emelinep]

Goodness me what a palaver this all is. Well I’ve applied for excusal and should know within the next 7-10 working days. I’ll post the result. Fingers crossed for your appointments. I’m rather amazed/dismayed by some of the responses. I get vision test, scan and bilateral injection all at once at my NHS eye unit. Hope that continues as the thought of going again the day after my last horrific experience makes me very queasy.

[fed13]

Apropos iodine; ouch!; my sympathies Emelinep. I have come up against a brick wall here. Over 2 years, with constant injections I have become very sensitive to iodine, and it now causes me great pain, though this can be relieved somewhat with a tiny vial of anaesthetic drops, I've managed to wheedle out of them.

However I then learnt on this extremely useful forum that you can use Chlorohexidine, (I think it's called). I THOUGHT I had arranged for the clinic to use this now.

My Consultant told me "Chlorohexidine is rubbish": we have compromised with him promising to give me a diluted iodine eye drop, and no pre-injection iodine. (That often is the worst:. having an iodine eye drop and then waiting a good hour+ to go in for my injection with my eye becoming more and more agonising, as it reacts very badly to the iodine.

I gathered on this forum that Chlorohexidine was an acceptable and non painful alternative to iodine.

Help/advise please.

\big hug though to Emelinep with your bad reaction to iodine, and a cold and the difficulty of Jury Service.

This Jury Service question needs to be sorted out though.

In my humble opinion, a necessary injection to stop eyesight deterioration trumps having to serve on a jury.

What would happen if you say to powers that be " Sorry; no can do; have an important injection to prevent me going blind. Surely a letter fro your Consultant would sort this out.

Also what does this forum suggest re Chlorohexidine being "rubbish"?

Thanks for help!

[Emelinep in reply to fed13]

Thanks fed13. I always have chlorhexidine now apart from this week’s mixup. I’m rather more cautious on the days following and have no pain whatsoever as long as they give it a decent wash because I’m intolerant of that one too. A consultant said my eyes have just become very sensitive after 2 1/2 years. I don’t think I could bear your regime