Appointment

[bencar]

Can't believe this, a couple of hours ago I had a phone call asking me if I can possibly change my appointment from late afternoon until this morning as the Reumatologist was twiddling his thumbs. Well! surely we don't have enough of them for that situation to happen, wonder who had an appointment declined because he was too busy. Unfortunately for him, I was unable to change it.

[Hidden]

That's happened to me a few times, only they've asked if I am able to get there within the hour! Annoying (and impossible!) as I have to catch two buses to get there!

[AgedCrone in reply to Hidden]

I wonder why GP's bother to display the number of no shows when they -or theur Union - refuse to agree to sanctions against the people who don't turn up for their appointment?

As the NHS is so cash strapped £5 times the number of no shows would be a pretty penny! It's all very well bleeting they are doctors not accountants.....I would think they'd be willing to try anything to ensure appointments were kept so that really sick people could be seen?

But obviously I have my rose tinted specs on!

[helixhelix]

My hospital and GPs surgery both display the number of appointments where people failed to turn up in the last month and it's shocking! Hundreds of them every month......

[Hidden in reply to helixhelix]

That's terrible! Costs nothing to phone. You can even cancel on line these days.

I must admit, I was miffed at not being able to take make the one hour away. I'd been waiting for months! I'm

[allanah]

Aw bless ! Maybe cancellations?

[Karen77]

Just to try to offer another perspective, I think it's probably common for people to miss early morning appointments because that's when the disease is most active. Also, at least where I am, it's pretty treacherous on the roads at the moment and I can barely turn a steering wheel with how my wrists are currently, so if I had a morning appointment today, I'd also have to reschedule. Would be nice if you could get a phone consultation in lieu of a face-to-face, rather than having to cancel, because I think the last thing a person who needs to see a rheumatologist would want to do is miss an appointment! My next appointment isn't until May

The only time I had to cancel was because I was so sick at home that I was hugging the toilet bowl. It meant having to wait another 3 months to see my rheumatologist. I'm pretty sure that is punishment enough, so I wouldn't be too pleased to be charged for missing the appointment on top of that.

Also, silly to complain about not being able to move your schedule to accommodate theirs! It certainly doesn't hurt to be offered the earlier time and it doesn't mean you've lost your original time by answering the phone. How are they supposed to know or keep track of how long it takes you to get to your appointment, etc? I'd rather they call and offer an earlier appointment then not get the call. Especially since my rheumatologist is routinely 1-2 hours behind.

Gentle hugs.