NHS rule about being late?

That is ridiculous! Complain via PALS. Five minutes is nonsense! Receptionists need to remember that they are dealing with the public - fallible human beings - and that occasionally small things will go wrong and allowances should be made.

I had something similar happen to me - I was to have a pacemaker fitted and arrived at the hospital in plenty of time. But the information did not tell you that the theatre was way over the other side of the hospital and not to park in the main car park or there would be a long walk. There was a smaller car park by the relevant place but the letter did not say this. Since my heart was not functioning properly that long walk was very slow indeed and I arrived a couple of minutes late to be greeted by unpleasant sarcasm "Hmmm - we thought you weren't coming." I really did not need this, both because I was weak and out of breath by then and understandably a bit nervous about the procedure to come. At least they did do it!!

But if theyd already been held up then they could see him anyway as his appointment would be running late?
This sounds like a case of the receptionist knowing a 17 year old wouldnt know enough to challenge it.

The thing OP is questioning is the rule about the entire appointment being cancelled if they are one minute late.
None of what you have suggested has any effect on this.

Person A turns up at 10.05, gets 25 mins instead of 30.
Person B turns up at 10.35, gets 25 mins instead of 30.
By the time you see person F, you think you may as well give them the extra 5 mins at the end if the next hasn't turned up until 5 mins past.

So the whole system would need an extra 5 minutes at most.

I once had a dentist try to charge me for being late (when I'd called to say that I was going to be 5 minutes late, and actually made it 3 minutes late).

I pointed out that the previous week (it was an ongoing treatment) I had let someone go in front of me when my appointment was already 15 minutes behind after they'd asked, and that I had never gone into an appointment at their practise on time in the past anyway, and with poor grace, removed the charge (and I moved dentist, as the work they'd done failed within a month)

Youre gonna have to call and sort this op

This receptionist is a dick who probably doesn't like teenagers. I mean they're scary, but this is ridiculous.

Yanbu, sorry to your ds. Shes the receptionist the kids on tiktok make skits about 🙄

"he was 5 mins late. I believe him as he’s very exact about things!"

Seems a little odd that it was exactly 5 minutes, and not 7 minutes or 4 minutes or 9 minutes. I say this because "I was only 5 minutes" is the catch-all claim for people who are late, and it is invariably longer.

Also because your son who is presumably hale and hearty enough to cycle to and from school and onto an appointment with 40mins to comfortably make it could have run or jogged the last bit to make up that "5 minutes" - he was obviously close to the correct place.

But unfortunately late is late. And if his 5 minutes was more like 10, then why should other patients and the medical staff be inconvenienced? It is a hard lesson, but then so is life.

I honestly think it's because he's a teenager and they thought he wouldn't kick up a fuss.

Some people in jobs like that, love a little power trip.

Sounds like a total jobsworth.

Just imagine if every patient were 5 minutes late ...

He’s five mins late, so the next person is held up and at the end of day the consultant goes home late

… and then gets charged an astounding amount for late pick up from the nursery

We cant really turn people away here in NHS podiatry because we only see really serious cases. They might have sepsis or a serious bone infection and rescheduling could mean an amputation. We have to hope a colleague can pick some of our work up but lateness does often ruin my day and other patients start kicking off because we're running late.

Seems very inflexible. Poor him. Hopefully you’ll get a new appointment soon.

At the same time most medical appointments ask that you arrive 20-15 minutes early (forms etc.) so it’s never sensible to aim to arrive at the appointment time. If you have a 3pm appointment you need to be planning on arriving at 2.40.

I have an appointment with my consultant surgeon at 8pm next Tuesday.
Personally I have nothing but admiration and huge respect for NHS workers.

Glad you do that, valuing good timekeeping and also considerate for anyone who struggles with sitting for a long time.

Wish it was the standard practice.

Really? I'd feel like I was late if I arrived on the dot, surely being on time to an appointment means being there a couple of minutes early to register or sign in?

That being said, things happen and I think they should have been more flexible with OP's son. If they were really pressed for time they could have just reduced his appointment by a couple of minutes.

Doesn’t seem fair if he was 5 mins late for a 30 min appointment.
Having said that 5 mins early is on time.

OP said he was 5 minutes late but the hospital's rule is they won't see people if they are more than 1 minute late

What a stupid woman ... part of the problem with NHS, pay peanuts get monkeys

I expect it depends on the hospital. I would imagine most would have let him have the appointment but just made him wait if the patient before him had taken his appointment. He could then have taken that patients appointments. It's a ridiculous rule as anyone could easily be a minute late

I had a CT scan when I was in hospital. I was told in the morning that the scan had been booked at at 9.45 and that porter would come to collect me at 11 to take me for the scan. 🤷🏼‍♀️

It's not respectful to expect staff to stay late all the time to treat people, its not respectful to make the patients after you late because you didn't turn up on time

Radiotherapy is different because you've got unwell, elderly patients often reliant on transport, but the majority of outpatient appointments its reasonable to turn up on time or at least call through if your stuck in traffic/lost

My thoughts too, that he was later than he has told his parent.

When my DC had Orthodontist appointments , if someone wasn't there , the receptionist would phone them. Unless they were at the point of walking through the door , they were a DNA.
They also only allowed after 3pm appoints for Yr 10/Yr11 , so if your child was younger , the parent had to arrange time off to accompany . And parking was rubbish as it was in town.

I work in NHS , we have a 10 minute late policy . But TBH , it is far more hassle for me to argue/reason ( we don't have Receptionist )
If someone is late and I was to say I wouldn't see them , the answer would always be "Well I'm always kept waiting"
It creates a nasty atmosphere
I will see someone then if they don't mention it , I'll say at the end "Now you know you were late today , a lot of my colleagues won't see you if you're 10 minutes late . I saw you but you won't get seen if you're late again"

We do have the repeat offenders though who are always late and come in with a "oh what am I like " attitude .

Taking the next one in only works if the next one is there !
If I am waiting for someone and the next patient is keen to nab there space , I will wait a bit . The patient might be bustin' a gut to get there . If they are pushed out of their time slot they might think " why should I bother "

And the ones who phone up to say they'll be late - It Does Not Stop Time

I would be challenging this.

If he had been a professional looking adult who pushed back then that “rule” would not have existed. This receptionist was on a little power trip.