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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Is it usual for school to ban time off for dentist and GP?

78 replies

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 15/02/2016 11:44

School has an attendance / lateness problem and as a result have said they won't authorise absences for dentist and GP in school hours.
I am quite happy to TRY to get appointments after school but given you can't always get the time you want I am buggered if I will make them wait for treatment rather than miss a lesson. AIBU?

OP posts:

StrumpersPlunkett · 15/02/2016 12:28

if my child is so poorly they need an emergency appointment I don't care what school think,
for our asthma/allergy/dental/orthodontic appointments we book those for out of school hours.
thankfully our orthodontist appointments are usually at 8.15 am so we are at school on time.
Dentist does saturday mornings so we take advantage of these.

madamginger · 15/02/2016 12:36

My DS2 has a speech therapy appointment every 3 weeks and I pick him up at 1:30 so he gets his afternoon registration. His appointment lasts about 45 minutes, I don't take him back to school as he'd only be there 30 minutes and then it's the end of the school day.
Even though it's a medical appointment it still goes against his attendance record.

2ndSopranosRule · 15/02/2016 12:40

I've had to take mine out of school/take in late for orthoptic appointments where the last appointment is 3.30. The clinic's rationale behind that being the after school option was that "schools round here finish at 3". Ours finishes at 3.30 and we're five miles away. Mercifully they've introduced a clinic once a month til 7, presumably to negate the kinds of conversations about unauthorised absences with schools as above!

My dds' dentist operates a late night once a week and they go to that.

I agree that many of these problems could be avoided by a slightly more sensible approach by those running the clinics. I confess I wasn't as polite as I could have in response to someone telling me that "schools round here finish at 3".

TooAswellAlso · 15/02/2016 12:43

Routine dentist and doctor appointments shouldn't be an issue to be either post 330 or in the holidays they get every six weeks. Even some more routine surgery and non urgent appointments can be rearranged - I've managed to move a child's grommet fitting and adenoid removal to half term week, a cahms appointment to be at 4pm instead of 1pm, ENT to be 430, NHS dentist to be in the Feb half term etc.

Some of course can't be, but we did the same as a PP - when DS had a six week stint of SALT we got a block booking at 130pm, meaning he got his afternoon attendance mark and then left early.

Orthodontist appointments can be done similarly, and especially if they can be done in non core subjects like PE or assembly time.

noramum · 15/02/2016 12:44

Our school only authorises outpatients appointments at the hospital or specialist appointment like orthodontists as they do not do NHS after school. The main reason is that parents hardly ever have a choice in the timing and the school accept that you have to take what you get.

Routine appointments should be scheduled out of school or if really necessary at the end of the school day, so leaving 1/2 hr earlier. Tbh, with a holiday virtually every six weeks this should be doable.

Bromeliad · 15/02/2016 12:48

NHS orthodontist appointments where I am are done at the hospital. Good luck arranging them out of school time or during non-core subjects!

NewLife4Me · 15/02/2016 12:49

They are being very unreasonable.
Yes, you should try to make appointments outside school hours but most of these appointments are full of adults who have made their appointments for after work.
The holidays are full to the brim with children appointments and you don't always get in.
My dd will be having time off for orthodontist in a few weeks, her initial appointment is next week during holiday, follow up will have to be during school time.
She will need a full day off as we will have to go and collect her and take back to school afterwards.

honkinghaddock · 15/02/2016 12:50

I'm amazed at some people having so much freedom in being able to book or move appointments. Whenever I have tried to get appointments at a certain time I have got a lot of hassle about it and told that everyone can't have appointments when they want.

TooAswellAlso · 15/02/2016 12:51

Bromeliad I think it depends on your hospital and service where you are. We've accessed God knows how many different areas of the NHS, and yes some haven't been able to be changed, but they've all been fine with me ringing them and trying to rearrange them. A cheery "hi, thanks for your appointment, any chance I can have after this time instead" is either a no sorry, or yes of course. But people often don't even ring, they just get the appointment and go with it.

Juggling work, kids, uni, I am used to ringing up everything from the gas man to the vets to the dentist and trying to get a time that suits me best!

JacquesHammer · 15/02/2016 12:52

Dentist I always book after school with no probs.

GP I would where possible but her asthma clinic only runs on three mornings a week.

I'm glad DD's school is more reasonable!

AndNowItsSeven · 15/02/2016 12:55

The school has to authorise medical appointments.

Mistigri · 15/02/2016 12:55

The problem is that there are restricted slots out of school hours - orthodontists and the like can't reasonably be expected to sit twiddling their thumbs until 4pm waiting for the kids to finish school. To schedule all routine appointments out of school hours would require a shift to more antisocial hours working for medical professionals.

My DS had braces and I think in 2 years we had one school holiday appointment. The appointments were at fixed intervals so couldn't wait until holidays, and his orthodontist tends to keep the late afternoon/ early evening slots for older students (this was private btw).

My DD has been back and forth to the GP the last couple of mins - it's almost impossible to get an out of school appointment with our doctor as she has only one book-able session per week that my DD can attend without missing some school. I make a sensible judgement about how long DD can wait to see the doctor, and her school makes a sensible judgement about me being a responsible parent. They don't try to visit the sins of a minority of irresponsible parents on the rest of us.

Phalenopsisgirl · 15/02/2016 12:57

I don't have this problem as ds is at an independent school and I can whip him out left right and centre and no one bats an eye as they don't have to conform in the same ways as a state school. I always do dental appointments in the holidays and have never struggled to get booked. However he also has to attend a paediatric cardiac clinic at the hospital regularly and with those appointments you get what you are given, the clinic runs all day and is all children patients (obviously). The children come from all over the place and are in various uniforms so there must be some allowance in the state system for these things. I think gp's must vary, however surely if your child has a suspicious rash the first port of call is their doctor, as by taking them into school first when it could be infectious can't possibly be the best course of action.

gamerchick · 15/02/2016 12:58

We have the same problem as well. One Drs appointment shortly after school started the wanted him to show up there first before letting him go. I refused to risk them not letting him go so it went down as unauthorised.

Fortunately there are no shortage of nhs dentists round here so had no problem booking them in this week for a check up.

Bonkers rules but what can you do?

lalaloopyhead · 15/02/2016 13:03

My dd is at secondary school and her orthodontic appointments go down as unauthorised absences. She has a friend that has an on going medical issue and has to have appointments several times a year to make sure the condition hasn't advanced and so that she remains well....this is counted as unauthorised too which I find outrageous.

I can understand that the some people take the mickey, and some kids have the day off for the slightest sniffle but I think if you can produce an appointment card then that should be allowed.

SmallGreenBouncyBall · 15/02/2016 13:05

hahahaha...tell that the consultant we see for dc's chronic problem...

NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 15/02/2016 13:07

As a child I always had dentists appointments in school holidays, although orthodontists were in school time.

Doctors appointments would generally expect to be out of school hours unless child is ill enough to be off school. I do appreciate that for chronically ill children this isn't always the case as it would mean months off.

Marniasmum · 15/02/2016 13:09

so what if the school don't authorise it? only on mn do I see people kowtowing to their kids school!

Bromeliad · 15/02/2016 13:10

ToAswellAlso yes, of course you can try. But given that the wait for treatment after your appointment time can be up to an hour, it's a bit pointless asking for an appointment during a particular lesson. Very frustrating for both parents and the school, but there's not much you can do about it!

As an aside, I had braces for four years and regular orthodontic appointments during my GCSEs and A-levels which were always during school time. Due to the distance between the school and the hospital I always missed at least two maybe three lessons. I still got excellent grades. The money schools are having to spend on sending letters to parents who have had a child in hospital or have regular illnesses could be used to support the child or other children. Unfortunately the schools hands are tied at the minute.

Phalenopsisgirl · 15/02/2016 13:11

I might add ( and sorry to sound smug) that his gp visits his school twice a week to do a clinic for any child that needs it. The medi staff at the school book your child in and then email you to let you know they will be seeing the dr at whatever time about x y or z and offer you the chance to attend the appointment. If you want you can go, if it's about nothing important he can see the dr alone and they just let me know what was said! Very easy for working parents. I can't understand why this couldn't be offered by state schools, kids loose the minimum amount of time possible from the classroom, drs can see lots of kids quickly and efficiently without annoying missed appointments taking up time and money. Win win.

Noodledoodledoo · 15/02/2016 13:15

Whilst I can see its a pain to get appointments out of school hours as a teacher I also have to do the same - the only appointments I have in school hours have been antenatal care ones which I couldn't arrange for out of school time due to times - ie GTT test so fasting overnight and 2 hour appointment at 8:30am.

I had a brace when I was at school and none of my appointments were in school time, all appointments after 3:30 and dentist 5 mins walk from school so I guess I was lucky.

I would not get approval for time off for routine appointments at all - antenatal they can't actually complain but I actually make sure I minimise the impact on the students - ie I have 3 appointments this week in half term, my midwife appointment is actually a week late due to this.

gamerchick · 15/02/2016 13:15

so what if the school don't authorise it? only on mn do I see people kowtowing to their kids school!

The attendance officer threatening you with court and fines.

Unnerved · 15/02/2016 13:16

My DS has sight problems and wears glasses therefore he is required to visit the outpatients eye clinic.This a hospital in another town and requiring a car. Its a very busy clinic so we get allocated whatever appointment is available. I can't negoiate times or the half term. Lucky my DS is well aware of his appointments and have no issues with them.

Not all GP appoints are reflexiable to give appointments outside school holidays.

BeaufortBelle · 15/02/2016 13:17

I work full-time. I have no problems getting appointments around with working day for me and the dc. If it's an emergency then we tend to be too sick to go in or it's urgent enough to make an exception

Specialist/consultant NHS apointments are different but ime if you don't abuse the system for the routine stuff there isn't a problem. Some NHS services and their provision do however beggar belief, ie, CAMHS, that only works 9-5 and offers appointments in the middle of the day often an hour away from school for say, a session of six weeks. Sadly they don't have the basic intellect to understand that if the child is doing GCSEs or A'Levels to miss six weeks of double maths will pretty much screw the child's life chances and career choices. Great impact that on a teenager's fragile self esteem

lifesalongsong · 15/02/2016 13:19

Are there really dentists where you can't get an out of school hours routine check up if you book the next one when you have each check up so in 6 months time?

As someone above says it does seem to only be on here that people worry so much. I've never heard anyone in RL express any concern about dental or medical appointments.

The school's hands are tied - they have to tell you that you can't do it, you don't have to listen.

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