aibu to think that if your a pensioner then turning up to the early blood clinic is selfish

[meddie]

Unless your there for a fasting blood sugar or need a very early morning sample, why was the blood clinic rammed with pensioners at 7:30am who had been there from 7 (to get an early ticket). Thus making people late for work, because when they arrived at 7:30 for the 7:30 clinic there is already 20+ pensioners waiting with their tickets causing waiting times to be over an hour fromthe off.

Is it unreasonable to expect an early morning clinic put on for those who cant go during work hours, to be kept for those who need to get to work

How do I know this? Because I know the way my parents, my aunts and uncles, their friends and my grandparents do things, that's how!

Up before the bloody birds and get all peeved with me (clearly not mumsnetters!!!) if I don't go along with it.

I swear if they were a worm they'd have been eaten by now.....

its so they can spend all the rest of the day in morrisons bunging up the isles looking at each identical carton of soup etc, so i can't do my shopping quickly when sciving off work.

It is annoying though. I need regular blood tests. I have the option of clinic A and clinic B near my house. Clinic A is turn up and wait, clinic B is book able. However clinic A opens at 7:30 and B at 8:00 ish (7:30-8:00 is reserved only for fasting blood tests). I am usually at work for 8am in order to ensure I am set up and ready for work. Both clinics are usually busy, so I either have the option of trying to get a prebooked early appointment at B- which can take a while- or turning up at A and hoping the queues aren't too big (I usually make it to work for about 9 if I choose that option). Neither clinic is open after work.

As I work in a school, I can't take time off for something like a blood test. My work are very sympathetic and I get paid time off for anything that is urgent or can't be rearranged like consultant appointments, but the policy is that wherever possible medical and dental appointments should be made outside of working hours.

So I end up only being able to do blood tests around the school holidays- which often means my tests are late. The really annoying thing is that I then turn up at 10am or so- and have been known to walk straight in without a wait at all! So if people turn up really early so they don't have to wait, they'd be better off turning up later!

OP, was the blood clinic at the hospital or at the GP's? If it was the GP's surgery then all blood test appointments are for first thing in the morning (at least in my GP's surgery and I should think it's standard procedure) because they are then all sent together up to the hospital for testing. I doubt these pesky pensioners were given a choice regarding the time of their appointments, I'm certainly not.

Not standard procedure as once I had afternoon blood test and had to go back
the following morning as calcium testing has to be done in a certain time frame. (Normally afternoon blood tests just sent the following day)

I can see where the OP is coming from, tbh. I don't work so I try to avoid early, late and Saturday morning appointments because I know they are extremely valuable to lots of other people.

Grunt at our GP we can have bloods done until 11:30am.

Oh well, I suppose I can't be right all the time once would be nice though

Same here, blood clinic is open till 11:30 as that's when the courier collects. And like I said, at A you turn up whenever, take a ticket, and wait for your number to be called (like a deli counter). At B you phone up and ask for a time and they give you an actual appointment- but the appointment times are between 7:30-8:00 am for a fasting blood test and between 8:00am and 11:30 for non-fasting. Both are hospital based but do the GP blood tests as our GPs don't do them at all.

And thank you fairy for a bit of consideration.

You tell them op, they can do their knitting, wave their sticks and shout at teenagers later on. Not forgetting their blue rinse and set, the can do that another day. After all it's not like pensioners have anything else to do.

YANBU, I'd find it annoying too.

YABU. Bloody hell. My mum fits into the OAP age bracket...but is currently working more than full-time hours as an acting head teacher. She would have been there at 7am, and she would be horrified at the dismissive language and attitude in the OP.

I recently had a GP appointment (it was late morning) but the GP decided I needed an emergency blood test so I was pushed in ahead of all the other patients waiting.

I fit in the OAP bracket.

Oh how I smirked.

YANBU our doctors is a turn up and wait system, so i know the people there, they are retired with nothing to do, i have to get to work turn up later you retired people.

I'm quite shocked at your post tbh Rissolesfortea. Surely your surgery has a clear "No Smirking" sign!

From my own personal experience in the workplace, most employers (even schools) give you time off work for any medical appointment, they have to, I think, so I don't really understand the problem with having to get an early appt. If you feel bad about taking time off, then you can always work it back at some other time. Work through your lunch break instead, maybe?

Lots of elderly people like the early appointments because they are awake in the early hours, 7:30-ish is like midday to them, then they have a nap in the afternoon. When you get older your body clock changes drastically - it will happen to you too. They are not trying to be awkward, the early appointments happen to be more convenient to them.

Sorry to say, but I think you are being unreasonable.

YABU very unreasonable - my grandmother had a blood test today she's 72 and still works a five hour shift 5 days a week!

Aren't you just a delightful person

I've worked for local authorities who are generally generous with time off etc. and they've never allowed time off for gp appointments as the assumption is you can arrange these around your work schedule. Hospital appointments are treated differently.

Gruntfuttock surely you know that once you are an OAP silly rules no longer apply. It is our right to push to the front of queues, take up spaces meant for buggies on buses, go to the GP's whenever we like and stand chatting in supermarket aisles.

I love being old.

OP

"your" being unreasonable

SoulJacker - oh, I can honestly say I've never experienced that and I've worked for schools and other Local Authority places, as well as private companies.

Maybe the laws have changed then. I found that even if I took time off for a funeral and worked it back at some other time (or offered to), it was always acceptable. We have an employee, and if he has to go to any medical appointment, we just allow the time without question. Perhaps we're too nice