NHS rule about being late?

Are you sure he was only 1 minute late? That sounds very precise. I work in the NHS and i know no where who would not let someone in for being 1 minute late. You can explore it but I would be prepared to find out 1 minute was not 1 minute. I would explore it though as you do sometimes have receptionists who are a bit police like, but 1 minute feels extreme.

It can be so varied with appointments.

my DD has a tonne of appointments and some departments give grace and some don’t.

I had one receptionist be really, really rude about us being 5 mins late and she said very loudly that I needed to “prioritise being on time for important appointments”. She did have the manners to apologise when I said we’d come from phlebotomy, who were running 20 mins late, and xray, who were running 40 mins late, so I thought we’d done quite well with appointment planning to be only 5 mins late.

I knew there would be at least one comment questioning why he needs physio if he can cycle for 40mins

OP I would definitely question if the one minute rule is a thing. I’d expect info like that to be in the appointment letter. I’d contact PALS for clarification.

We do this too at the hospital where I work but if people can’t be seen that day then we try to organise another appointment for them so that they have another slot planned but
if the clinics aren’t full and we have a gap we slot them in but they have to wait until that gap and afternoon clinics run 2-6pm so that may involve waiting.

1 minute is ridiculous if contact PALS and ask why this happened as the slot is usually 20-30 mins for physio so wouldn’t have made much difference.

I’m wondering if the physio dept was running so late that day that the receptionist ( wrongly ) decided to stop accepting patients. Was your son the last appointment of the day?

If I’m honest I’m also wondering what he was going there for after 12 weeks if he could cycle for 40 minutes to get there?
If he’s been in constant pain for that time I apologise for sounding flippant.

Either way it’s a lesson in being prepared. The appointment letter usually has instructions about which entrance you need to use, which car park is best and by the way, where was he putting the bicycle? 5 minutes on google maps and street view would have had him knowing where he needed to go.

I think the receptionist was on a power trip as your son was young and on his own. I can almost guarantee it wouldn’t have happened if you or his father was there with him.

I have an appointment today at 12.03pm and have had texts, emails and NHS app alerts telling me if I am later than 12.03pm I won't be seen.
Makes me laugh as I've never been seen on time for any medical appointment.
Waited over 45 minutes one time, then spoke to reception who said we we had an emergency so you can't be seen. Understandable, but she didn't think it was important to tell me and had a right go at me when I asked why I wasn't told and just left sitting in the waiting room like a twat

I'm with others - I work in the NHS and this is nonsense. They could have seen him for 5 minutes less and made better use of the appt time, for him and them. I would complain! And ask for a sooner appt while I'm doing it.

We give 10 mins (sexual health) as our appointments are 20 or 40 minutes depending on what they are for. Some people get annoyed, but I can’t safely do a full assessment, examination/procedure and treatment if I’m rushing, and it’s not fair to expect other patients to wait if they have arrived on time.

Any later than that, I will ask the patient to rebook or tell them they are welcome to wait and I will try and slot them in if someone else doesn’t turn up or if I finish another appointment sooner than the allotted time. However, if they are in pain, I will always try and make it work. It’s maddening when people stroll in late clutching a takeaway coffee, though 🤣

Five minutes wouldn’t even register as late for me and I’d just see them as normal. One minute is bonkers. I bet if the receptionist had asked the physio if they would see your DS, they would have agreed.

You're not commuted into London from where I live! The train is rarely on time but it doesn't wait the odd time it happens to be on time.

This analogy is wrong because this particular train rarely leaves on time. In my experience of many hospitals appointments (including physio) you are rarely called exactly at your appointment time. Waiting at least 5 minutes is standard even if your appointment is at the beginning of the day.

I would complain in writing OP.

Ok fair enough if that’s the case.

I wonder if they would’ve treated your teen son the same way had he been a 30 year old man or a 50 year old woman who had been say struggling with parking and arrived a few minutes late? Not convinced they would’ve.

I’d probably give them a call.

I was once refused an appointment for being 'late' when they took 20 minutes to check me in.

I was stood in a very long line, arrived at least 5 minutes before appointment time and by the time the solo staff member had checked me in I had automatically been listen as a DNA.

My complaint to PALS went no where and back to end of the waiting list I went.

I'm livid on your behalf. When has anyone ever gone in to any NHS appointment on time? I always turn up at least ten minutes before the slot then I'm sat there with half a dozen others who all have the same time, so I actually go in half an hour later - if I'm lucky. This sounds like a power tripping receptionist and I bet she wouldn't have tried that with someone older.

I'm not aware of a rule, I've worked in the NHS for 35 years. It varies Trust to Trust.
Generally it's the done thing to wait 10 minutes before we mark someone as DNA (did not attend), our appointments are 25 minutes. If i was free and they were late I would always see them but explain they wouldn't have a full consultation as I would then keep the next person waiting.
Parking is shit, hospitals are hard to navigate, people are infirm, traffic, loads of reasons why you might be late.

If your dentist sees you late then they either won't be able to give you the service you pay for, or they'll then run late and all the other patients (who are also paying for the service) will have to wait also.

I think that’s way too rigid. I’m usually really early so not sure what they’d do if I was 5 minutes late, but considering I’m usually waiting at least ten minutes past my appointment time I’d be really annoyed if they made me reschedule for being 5 mins late.

That said I don’t think it was wise to rely on him cycling to the appointment given it was a tight time frame between school ending and the appointment. I feel you should’ve given him money for an uber or taxi if that’s possible. The cycle should’ve been left at home that day.

NHS worker here. It's 10 mins half of the appointment time we give before having to rebook a patient. However if next patient is in the waiting room I'll try and get that one in if the late patient phones to saying running late. Having to rebook a patient who is late has always been the case in the 30 years I've worked for the NHS.

I'm going against the grain here. The appointment time is the time the appointment is meant to start not the time you're meant to arrive. Just like when you get a 10am train. The train leaves at 10am you don't rock up at the station at 10am, you certainly don't rock up at 10:05.

That said it does seem a bit harsh to a teenager who had got a bit lost trying to find the clinic.

Always write to whoever you need to communicate with as phone calls are a waste of time. OP, email PALS and copy in whoever referred your son for this appointment. I always wait at least 30 minutes for any and all hospital appointments. It seems to be the norm.

I always slot people in as you frequently get people coming early, so it’s not hard to do.

I had an appointment yesterday for 1pm, got there at 12.50 and checked in all fine. At 1.30 I asked reception how late they were running, she said they were not running late and would go see the consultant. She came back and said they were trying to slot me in? Which I thought was weird as I had a letter stating an appointment time of 1pm. At 2 pm the consultant comes and calls another name, the receptionist has a word with her and the consultant tells me she thought she seen me as there was someone with the same surname and I wasn’t on the system? She said she would see me next which she did but my 1pm appointment ended up with me being seen ay 2.30! So the fact they refused to see your son in ridiculous!

I had a hospital appointment. As it was in the school half term and there were not the usual SUVs travelling half a mile badly driven, the bus journey was much quicker than usual so I arrived early. I was the first appointment of the day.

Medical practitioner arrived ten minutes after my start time. Colleague came and spoke to me to let me know, and at least there is no need for a follow up.

Given that this tardiness is not a unique example, indeed you can read many threads about being kept waiting ages, it should not be one way. Even if you are told in advance about a lateness policy of one minute, which the OP was not.

This is absolutely not my experience.

My daughter has very regular hospital appointments and although we aren’t late often the rate occasion we have been 5 mins late it was fine. You can call the hospital to let them know you are running late if you know the extension although I appreciate you might not for a one off type of appointment.

A lot of my daughters appointments are with the physio. One time we accidentally went to the wrong building and they called us and directed us to the right way. This was Great Ormond Street though so I don’t know if they are more sympathetic than other hospitals.