Muddles versus common sense 3:0

My father lives with us, though because both my husband and I frequently work away from home, social services treat him as if he lives on his own. He has Meals on Wheels and two visits a day from care workers. He is rather frail, physically, though very good mentally. Not that he has all the much understanding of the 21st Century, but then who does? He is profoundly deaf and has lost considerable confidence socially. But still, we feel, too healthy and manageable to go into an old people’s home.
My father had to have an operation on his eye this week. He’d already had the first one done some months ago. This new appointment was very much last minute, with no letter being sent beforehand. They’d tried to ring him first but typical conversation with my father:
Ring, ring.
“Hello?”
……….
“I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
Bang.
By the way, Dad has a state of the art hearing aid, and with a fresh battery in that, he has one quarter of normal hearing. Ironically, he can hear quite well on the phone if you’re talking about something sensible.
Eventually, they phoned us and we established, and convinced him - that was not easy because he was expecting a letter which only arrived on Saturday - that the operation was to take place last Monday and that a car would come for him at 8.30. When will they understand the words “Please contact us about arrangements”? Well they won’t. Patient’s dignity you know. What happened to common sense? First thing Dad always does is tells us or asks us to deal with it! He then got a phone call telling him the car would come at 7.15. He only told us this after it was too late to phone and check.
A car came at 7.15. Another came at 8.30.
They botched the op.
He had to go back Tuesday to have the mistake put right, Wednesday to have it redone, and he has to go back again another time. Cars came for him, two hours early. They discharged him with eye drops and no instructions.
“I’ll type them up and send them to you,” said the clerk.
In the mean time, what do we do with the eye drops now?
My husband has phoned. The carers have phoned. No one talks any sense.
Isn’t there a better way? And isn’t it to do with good old common sense?