Missed hospital appt due to train cancellation

missile

Was train delay due to weather? Did OP not listen to the news and weather forecasts?

OP should have attended the appointment late and most likely hospital would accommodate them.

NHS get all sorts of excuses why patient is going to be late. They don't have the resources to verify why a patient is late and change appointment to suit.

If OP wants special treatment go private and pay ........... oh wait! most private patients don't get to dictate doctor schedules.

Keep_pedalling

Carrot007 wrote: »

Why should anyone be within ten minutes of an appointment that is likely going to be a 2 hour wait?

The NHS is great but they should admit everything is running late and give you updates for when you should arrive. The appointment time is !!!!!!!! and you know it.

For your reasoning to be effecticve the NHS should give compensation for appointments not on time. It goes both ways.

Doesa depend on what the appointment was for of course. Some are4 always on time.

Depends on the clinic, having takien my mother to the hearing clinic at my local hospital a few times, it runs like an efficient production line, and there was rarely any waiting. Similar thing when my wife went for a cataract op the other week, turn up late and you miss your slot.

If relying on public transport I would certainly allow more than 15 mins,

Lanzarote1938

I would have got a cab rather than walk 15 mins then would have arrived ontime. I would have booked the cab in advance to be waiting at the station.

Manxman_in_exile

OP - how long was the train journey? 30 minutes? 90 minutes?


I hate to say it, but on the face of it, leaving just 15 minutes leeway was daft. I would have wanted lo leave at least an hour if not longer. (In fact if it was an important appointment I'd been waiting on, I'd probably go for two hours - especially with a 5pm time). Trains are cancelled (or run late) all the time.


I used to work in the NHS. Contact the clinic again, explain why your wife missed the appointment and ask them nicely to re-arrange it. Also explain that there are follow-up appointments booked that will be pointless without the results from this missed appointment, so it's in their interests too. And if she's got good access to her GP, see if they will help writing to or 'phoning the clinic to sort it out. I know my GP would.

Manxman_in_exile

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Depends on the clinic, having takien my mother to the hearing clinic at my local hospital a few times, it runs like an efficient production line, and there was rarely any waiting. Similar thing when my wife went for a cataract op the other week, turn up late and you miss your slot.

If relying on public transport I would certainly allow more than 15 mins,

Exactly this. My wife and I have had several hospital appointments over the last three years and we've never waited more than ten minutes after the scheduled time.


The NHS hates missed appointments (although I don't see how they cost as much as they claim) and if you do it twice you probably have to be re-referred by your GP.

Tigsteroonie

Just to counter the "never waited more than ten minutes" experiences, I once had to wait over an hour for a hospital appointment for our son. It started with the consultant being late as he'd been called onto a ward, and then the admin team 'forgot' to transfer his file to the clinic desk (15 feet away) so nobody realised we were waiting until I enquired ...

Manxman_in_exile

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Just to counter the "never waited more than ten minutes" experiences, I once had to wait over an hour for a hospital appointment for our son. It started with the consultant being late as he'd been called onto a ward, and then the admin team 'forgot' to transfer his file to the clinic desk (15 feet away) so nobody realised we were waiting until I enquired ...

Oh absolutely. Before the last three years I hadn't had a hospital appointment in over 20 years. In the past I've had horrific waits. but my personal experience over the last three years has been excellent and patient book-in and waiting times have been really efficient. It costs them money otherwise.


Interestingly, my GP's practice is super good, but waiting times can be really long. That's because they take time to treat their patients. When I first experienced some health problems three years ago, I had a consultation lasting about 50 minutes. I don't mind waiting a long time at the surgery as I think thay are really trying to do the best for their patients. I can't fault them.

LadyDee

OP - contact your GP surgery and ask to speak to the secretary and explain what happened. If she's anything like our surgery's secretary she'll contact the hospital and try to sort things out with them, so you don't have to wait another six weeks.

photome

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

If the OP had missed the appointment when travelling by car as a result of a road being blocked by a crash, would the responses on this thread have been the same i.e. 'you shouldn't have cut it so fine'?

If the OP had only left 15 minutes leeway, then yes

as others have said a taxi waiting the other end would have got to the hospital on time.

also if the Op hadnt called ahead there may not have been a problem knowing that hospitals are usually running late anyway

caronoel

Carrot007 wrote: »

Why should anyone be within ten minutes of an appointment that is likely going to be a 2 hour wait?

The NHS is great but they should admit everything is running late and give you updates for when you should arrive. The appointment time is !!!!!!!! and you know it.

For your reasoning to be effecticve the NHS should give compensation for appointments not on time. It goes both ways.

Doesa depend on what the appointment was for of course. Some are4 always on time.

This is part of the problem with a free service like the NHS. If a patient had to pay even £10 for an appointment or £20 for a missed appointment, there would be a dramatic reduction in waiting times and a big boost to NHS finances

Then, yes, we should have compensation for NHS delays as we do for train delays.

The NHS is the last bastion of unreformed socialism - run for the benefit of staff rather than patients