to expect there not to be 11 people in front of me when I arrive at my appointment on time

[June2008]

I went to take dd2 to have her third set of vacs today, arrived a couple of minutes before her appt time, checked in, only to be told that there were still 11 babies to be seen before her.

AIBU to expect not to have to wait 40 mins after the appt time, without a seat (because they're all taken) with a four month old to be seen by the nurse?

Made even worse by the fact that I had dd1 with me (2 1/2 yrs) who needed entertaining too, as at the moment I have no-one to look after her. Grrrrr.

What should have been a 25 min outing took nearly 90 mins.

Our baby vacc clinics run the same way as the ops clearly do. I learnt to ring up and make a nurse appointment for them outside of the vacc clinics. Proper appt slot. Baby clinic vacc were at the useless time of 2-4pm so no good if you had the school run to do!

I once waited over an hour after my appointment time had gone (not that unusual). When I asked the receptionist, she said they'd forgotten about me.

I agree - especially when there are snippy letters up about not forgetting (fair enough) or being late for your appointments. I completely understand that there may have been an 'all hands to the pump' emergency, but really, how often does that actually happen? And if the surgery opens at 8.30 and your appointment is at 9am, how can so much have gone wrong in 30 minutes?

I once waited an hour and 40 minutes for a hospital outpatient - kept asking a bored looking receptionist who repeatedly drawled "they're running late". Finally asked a passing nurse, who checked it out and admitted I'd been sent to the wrong waiting area. Mistakes can happen, but honestly...

June - our surgery is just the same when it comes to baby clinics.

I have discovered that these clinics are not the only time that we can get the vaccinations so now I just make an appointment at a different time and make sure I tell then when I book the appointment what it is for.

Much less hassle for all of us!

Sorry you lot but you need to complain to the receptionist, make new appointments etc. It is possible to go through appointments within the time. My local surgery always runs to time and its a busy practice with lots of different surgeries. They are just organised.

Complain to the receptionist? Not in the case of my previous post!

How much can go wrong in 30 minutes? Absolutely loads (hollow laugh from knackered GP).

That's 3 appointments.

1st appointment - for example - patient needs admission. Phone hospital. Hold for 10 minutes waiting to talk to correct person. Get cut off. Try again. Talk to doctor in speciality A who suggests I talk to speciality B doctor. Hold for another 10 minutes. Speciality B doctor says should have been Speciality A doctor. 10 minutes more spent negotiating that somebody will kindly see my poor patient and resolve their problem.

Now about 30 minutes late.

2nd appointment
Patient annoyed that has been kept waiting for 30 minutes (understandably). 5 minutes spent apologising.
Patient needs internal exam - takes an extra 10 minutes or so.
Agree plan with patient. As leaving - hand on doorknob syndrome - patient feels comfortable enough to divulge that actually they came because they've been feeling low and depressed for the last year and have only just plucked up the courage to come.
20 minutes later....

Now potentially nearly an hour late and only 2 patients on!

Patient 3 attends with 3 children - all of whom they are concerned about.... 20 minutes later.....

Starting to see why we run late anyone? And wasn't there a thread just a few days ago about how it is not always acceptable for GPs to ask patients to book another appointment for something they are very worried about?

So, no, you are not being unreasonable to find it irritating when GPs / nurses run late, and sometimes this is simply because too much work is predictably booked into too little time. But please, if it's me, accept my genuine apology and don't keep telling me how crap I am for being late, that just depresses me.

True Maisie, in which case there should be a practice manager or a supervisor of some sort. It isnt rocket science.

If most patients actually went in with their real complaint rather than asking with their hand on the door knob then maybe that would work better for everyone. But they don't.

My surgery has a 10 min policy, if you are 10 mins late you won't be seen, for their drs if they are going to keep you waiting for more than 15 you get offered a different appointment.

The hospital on the other hand booked everyone in on a 1st come 1st serve basis, 1st app didn't realise, came with dd and 4 hours later left, no food no nothing, horrible horrible time. learnt my lesson!

But surely if that was the case then I'd see all 3 of these people coming out of the surgery (given that my GP is a tiny practice)? Sorry, I know, I'm nit-picking (although I've yet to have a 5 minute apology, it's usually "sorry for the delay" which takes about 5 seconds) and I'm sure that things do go horribly wrong for GPs, but equally things go wrong for the patient (see my 1hr 40min example) or they get held up in traffic etc. It's also horrible facing the wrath of a receptionist who points out you've incovenienced the GP and other patients, and you'll have to reschedule your appointment, and horrible telling your boss that you've had to take more time off for a late appointment.

It is really hard to wait with two small children for 90 minutes. You have my sympathy!!

When I lived in London I knew I would not be able to cope with the disorganised practice we were with so I researched and moved to another practice which I was very happy with over the years. You can change doctors practices you know but not many people do, they just moaned and carry on.
At our current practice I love most of the GPS but the practice nurses are another kettle of fish. They are a bunch of jobsworths IMHO, wouldn't even give DDs the Gardasiljap a few years back because they 'hadn't been trained' FFS. Had to pay the GP to do it.

Theta should have read Gardasil jab, doh!

DD went for her booster jabs, went in on time, she behaved beautifully, all was fine and we went home to be called a couple of hours later and told that they had given her the wrong jab but they had checked with the hospital and she should be fine

At my GPs they are nearly always running late, and it does get very frustrating at times.

However- they are always able to see my 2 year-old DD on the same day, I nearly always see the same GP (even though it's a very large practice). My GP never makes me feel like I'm wasting his time or that he has to rush the appointment. I've certainly gone over my 10-minute slot in the past (for instance when DD had a splinter that was starting to get infected, the practice nurse, GP and I all had to hold her down to get the damn thing out). And I know of occasions where they've been willing to see very anxious parents of babies/toddlers even when they've finished for the day.

So now I just make sure I have plenty of things to occupy DD or a good book if I'm on my own, and try to be patient.

second my gp fitting me in where possible and if i am happy to wait - take my kindle and let my children run wild

At least they told you when you arrived.

I had an appointment for a transvaginal ultrasound where I was told to drink a litre of water at least an hour beforehand but then kept waiting 1 hour 40 mins beyond my appointment time.

If they'd have told me they were running that late I could have had a wee and then drink another load of water.

mumsy - I think what your practice nurses where displaying was patient safety and not jobsworth IMHO.

"they book 6 babies into a 15 min slot."

I have a 3yo and a 3 month old requiring vax next week, our surgery made me book 2 x separate 15 minute appointments. No wonder the nurse is booked up months in advance...!

Medical professionals on this thread - would you think I was weird if I asked to check the label on the vial first? (having just read arentfanny story!)

Dunno, might be a bit surprised, but certainly not offended if you wanted to look at the vial. Especially if you explained you'd come across someone who'd had the wrong immunisation, then all would make perfect sense :)

TheHeathen - wouldn't bother me in the slightest if you wanted to look at the vial.

TheHeathen- my HV checked the vials with me, what they were, were they in date etc. Also, as a nurse, wouldn't bother me at all if you wanted to check .

At our GP's there are signs up everywhere telling you to go to reception if you have been waiting longer than 15 minutes. It doesn't bother me when you have to wait, it does bother me when they don't keep you informed of what is going on

Smileyhappymummy - you have my every sympathy but they aren't all like you. Rude locums who talk to me as though I have the IQ of a gnat, reception staff who wouldn't be out of place in Cell Block H, policies that say I can only have 100 tabs at a time to treat a chronic underlying condition that has required the same dose for 19 years and wastes the GP's time, the surgery staff's time, the pharmacist's time and my time when it's a job that needs doing only once a year, the insistence that if I want an appointment I have to ring at 8am (otherwise they are all gone) when I have two school runs to deal with at 8am and it really wouldn't hurt to make it at 6pm the day before, 30 quid for the 10 seconds it took to sign a completed form when we had to cancel our holiday because dd was seriously injured - and the receptionist told me to phone to see if it was ready, blood tests that can only take place at the surgery round the corner that refuses commuter appointments for blood before 8.30 and has 20 septaguanarians queuing by 8.15 when I have finished aforementioned school runs. Yes I do accept the frustrations of a GP but as self employed people it's a great shame GPs don't accept the frustrations of their patients and realise that they should be providing a better standard of service (and care) which is free only at the point of delivery. And, btw, until receptionists make my appointment with Julia, Jane, Tom, or Roger - my name is Mrs x, ie, please treat as the doctor's equal rather than the doctor's subordinate. Smileyhappy I'm sure you are lovely but there is another side too you know.

OP YANBU but think yourself lucky.

TWICE when my DS needed vacs, I waited for 2 hours and still ended up having to come back another day.

The HV does the vacs. There is a 2 hour slot for the clinic, for which you can't book an appt. All the mums with only one LO get there half an hour before clinic opens and queue outside . I turn up on time with DS and 3yo DD. Already about 15 people waiting. Plenty of LOOOONG pfb type appts later, 2 hours passes (DD is climbing walls by then, as am I). HV comes out to inform me that she is happy to stay late to finsih all the vacs, but the GP has left for the day and HV is not allowed to do vacs without a GP on the premises.

This happened twice. Now that is grrrrrr-worthy IMO!

I believe it's the GP practice that has to reach the quotas for vaccination. I would have tried it twice and then insisted the GP or practice nurse do it by appointment. If they want me to respect their time, they can respect mine.