Cancelled appointment. Is this common?

Backbiter

After a wait of 7 weeks I was given an appointment at 2.40 today to remove a skin growth at my local surgery. Unfortunately it clashed with an important meeting with the President of my national association, so I rang to ask if I could have a later time. I was told this would mean taking my place at the back of the queue, so I decided to attend. This meant giving profuse apologies at the start of the meeting to explain that I'd have to leave early.
With negotiations at a sensitive point I couldn't leave as early as planned, and arrived at 3.10.
I was told to wait a few minutes, before they said I'd have to rearrange because I was so late. I'm not exaggerating to say I was the only person in the waiting room, so they were hardly rushed off their feet.
I can't dispute that I was late, but is 30 minutes such a crime that you forfeit your appointment? They make you wait weeks, months, even years for treatment and can't put up with a 30 minute delay.
I was fuming - I regularly take my son to an orthopaedic hospital and never have to wait less than an hour for to be seen - the appointment times just seem like a vague request to attend that morning/ afternoon. I am a teacher who makes appointments with parents who struggle to arrive on time because of work commitments. This happens dozens of times each year and I show them every understanding when they turn up late because their children matter to them (and me).
I know lateness can be seen as extreme bad manners but this genuinely wasn't the case.
I know this instance doesn't remotely compare with the poor souls who have their operations repeatedly cancelled but I'd still like to know: does this happen a lot?

Pennywise

You've just discovered how "wonderful" our NHS really is. They cancel appointments, they run very late without apology, and it's OK. But, should you be late or cancel at short notice, you are treated like something the receptionist has just stood in. Great isn't it. You did the right thing - you contacted them in advance to try to change the appointment - there is absolutely no reason why they couldn't have accommodated you and given you another date/time, and to threaten going to the back of the queue is obscene. If I were you, I'd make a formal complaint - it's about time people-power stood up to these over-inflated egos.

WHA

I would imagine the receptionist was highly delighted you were late. You didn't happen to see her changing her silly little sign - you know the one saying how many people have missed appointments?

I'm waiting until they are shamed into putting up another sign saying how many appointments THEY have cancelled at short notice, how many times THEY are late with calling you through for an appointment, how many times THEY have sent you a letter telling you your appointment is the next day and then posting it second class.

I'd like to see a fair playing field!

The fact is that whoever you spoke to when you first telephoned was just too lazy to change your appointment as she'd then have to send another letter out to someone else for that space. By using emotional blackmail to try to make you keep your appointment, she was just making her life easier. We shouldn't have to put up with this.

greenwich

Pennywise wrote:

why they couldn't have accommodated you and given you another date/time, and to threaten going to the back of the queue is obscene. If I were you, I'd make a formal complaint - it's about time people-power stood up to these over-inflated egos.

Can we try to keep a sense of proportion here? No, it was not obscene. Try looking up the definition of the word obscene. The OP was 30 minutes late but, from what he/she says, they still indicated that they would do what they could to help (BTW, the OP doesn't make clear whether he/she was or was not seen in the end).

NHS staff are not our personal servants. They have a difficult job to do, trying to treat lots of people in too little time. The OP had a choice of two things to do at the same time. He/she made a decision about what was most important. How exactly is the NHS at fault here?

hjb123

greenwich wrote:

NHS staff are not our personal servants. They have a difficult job to do, trying to treat lots of people in too little time. The OP had a choice of two things to do at the same time. He/she made a decision about what was most important. How exactly is the NHS at fault here?

I totally agree. How is the NHS at fault here.

Late is late however late, doesnt matter whether it is 'only' 30 minutes, thats still enough.

H

WHA

hjb123 wrote:

I totally agree. How is the NHS at fault here.

Late is late however late, doesnt matter whether it is 'only' 30 minutes, thats still enough.

H

They phoned up to try to change the appointment and were told they'd go to the back of the queue. That is just not right - there are dozens of reasons why a person would want to change an appointment that they had been allocated. If the NHS decide to "tell" patients their appointment times and not allow for them to be changed if inconvenient then it is no surprise there are missed appointments. If the receptionist had been flexible enough to change the appointment to the next available date, then the poster would presumably accepted a wait of a few weeks and not have been late. From what the poster indicates, she clearly believed she'd have to wait several more weeks/months to get another appointment, behind everyone else in the queue, so she tried her best to make the one she had, but unfortunately didn't.

hjb123

Well late is still late, if it is an appointment for a medical reason like a skin growth you should just make your excuse for the meeting and say you have a medical matter.

Which is more important health or career? I for one would certainly say health

H

meheraltaf

WHA wrote:

They phoned up to try to change the appointment and were told they'd go to the back of the queue. That is just not right - there are dozens of reasons why a person would want to change an appointment that they had been allocated.

Let's take a hypothetical situation with A B & C , three characters, A who has an appointment allocated @ 9am, for his own needs wants a local GP surgery to change an appointment given to him. Now there is B and C also who have appointments @ 10am and 11am respectively, are you telling me that for the sake of A who couldn’t, for whatever reason, make it in time at his given appointment time of 9 am wants the time allocated to B or C?

So that no else has to pay for A not keeping the appointment, the best and only option would be to get to the queue which is after C in our hypothetical situation-now apply to yours.

As for secretarial jobs, they have several other work that needs to be done other than arrange and rearrange a persons appointment. They have a whole load of tasks from updating patient notes of each patients visit, send off referrals to appropriate agencies/ trusts/ Consultants, prepare notes if the patient has requested for one-so goes the long list of tasks the doctors would have given them.

If you still feel that it should be done your way and only your way it would be at the cost of running into waiting lists where otherwise the resources could have been channeled to cutting of some of the many middle managers and instead employ more health professionals like practice nurses and more junior doctors.

Ultimately how we respond to the system would determine the fate of the NHS and the services we receive. I have always felt the best way forward would be to privatize NHS care and introduce health insurance and if we continue our own ways, that is where we are headed because we haven’t been able to appreciate the privilege we have.

Backbiter

Thanks for your comments all.
I wasn't seen today and will no doubt be treated as if I'd cancelled and be made to wait another 6/7 weeks.
To explain why I couldn't cancel the meeting or just walk out at the intended time: I am a union representative and I am representing colleagues who are faced with losing their jobs. The meeting was arranged by the national union leader and I was only notified of it on Monday.
I think I was probably a victim of Friday afternoon syndrome. People generally like to get off early, which explains why it took me 40 minutes to drive the 8 miles from my meeting at 2.30 in the afternoon, two hours before the normal rush hour starts.
I accept that late is late but this has never ever happened to me or a family member before - we've all had delays but been seen after some wait. If I'd been told to wait an hour or longer I could not have complained, but the honest truth is that the surgery waiting room was deserted and the carpark was virtually empty, so there was no evidence of a backlog.

If the surgery genuinely does finish at 3.10pm or thereabouts I would suggest that extending the hours a little might just help to reduce waiting times for patients who need treatment.
If the short hours are due to staffing shortages then the NHS needs more staff. What does mystify me is how one of my pupils last year applied to 5 medical schools with a view to becoming a GP but was rejected by each one. She got straight As in her A-levels and she'd have made a superb GP.What's wrong with the system when people like her get rejected?

I also tried to make the appointment there and then but was told that wasn't possible. Why not? I can do so at the dentist or the hairdresser or the garage - I don't have to wait to be sent a new date that I could have told them would be impossible.

Is there an NHS guideline that says how quickly after the appointed time the appointment will be cancelled if the patient is late? or is it just at the whim of the receptionist/ doctor/ nurse? If there is I wish I'd known as I'd have returned to the meeting when I hit my first traffic jam.

Backbiter

meheraltaf wrote:

Le I have always felt the best way forward would be to privatize NHS care and introduce health insurance and if we continue our own ways, that is where we are headed because we haven’t been able to appreciate the privilege we have.

How would a privatised NHS have handled this case? I honestly think that point is totally irrelevant to the issue of whether a surgery should accommodate someone who has waited 7 weeks for an appointment but who is delayed by 30 minutes.

greenwich

meheraltaf wrote:

I have always felt the best way forward would be to privatize NHS care and introduce health insurance and if we continue our own ways, that is where we are headed because we haven’t been able to appreciate the privilege we have.

I am not thinking of the OP here but I've also often thought how little people value the NHS. They expect to be treated - regardless of cost - for anything at any time but won't pay for it. People quite happily spend £50 on a Friday night out, but ask them to pay £5 for a visit to the doctor and there'll be cries of indignation.