5 mins late for medical appointment and reaction of HCP

[BooeyBubbleHead]

I am 34 weeks pregnant. Due to an unforeseen traffic diversion followed by a slow moving farm vehicle on a winding road, I arrived 5 minutes late for a medical appointment today. I had left enough time to have been 10 mins early, should it have been a standard journey. I think being on time is important and I would never intend to keep anyone waiting. I was unable to phone ahead as I was driving and do not have hands free, and safe places to stop are few on this route.

This is a very regular appointment and I have never been seen on time - I have always had to wait at least 10 mins after appt time, and sometimes up to 30 minutes. I accept and understand having to wait and have never made it an issue or taken it out on staff; the sheer volume of patients mean that it is inevitable and nobody's fault.

Today, HCP was incredibly offhand with me, and even implied that I was lying when I apologised (sincerely) and explained why I was late. The appointment was rushed and very unpleasant and I felt that I was being punished. There was much passive aggression and hostile body language. I did state that I was offended by her tone but this just made her more argumentative - she needed to have the last word. I arrived feeling stressed and left feeling even more so.

AIBU to expect the same empathy and understanding when running very slightly late, that I give regularly when kept waiting?

Really annoyed and considering making a complaint...

[JellyBelli]

YANBU. Its not acceptable for staff to be rude with you. Its unprofessional. They could have seen the next person before you and asked you to you wait 5 minutes.
Its sods law that the only time you are late they are on time

[Aeroflotgirl]

lynn that is disgraceful, did you make a complaint about her. What did she say when you gave her a bolloking.

[shinynewusername]

most people arrive a few mins early. no they don't. I'd say less than one in five patients arrive early

Agree. The problem is a cummulative one. I have to see 18 patients in a row. I only have 10 minutes per patient, which includes the time for the patient to get from the waiting room to my room and for writing notes at the end. Most people want longer/need than 10 minutes. If I even over-run by two minutes each time, the poor bastard with the last appointment will be seen 34 minutes late.

Aha, you think - but if you are running late anyway, it doesn't matter if patients are late. But unfortunately some form of NHS anti-karma dictates that it is always the patients at the start of the surgery who are late (my screen shows me what time everyone arrived). And they never take less than their 10 minutes. So the patients with appointments after them wait longer and longer and I get in the neck.

Having said all that, there is no excuse for rudeness.

[BooeyBubbleHead]

In the interest of fairness, it wasn't a Midwife.

[yoowhoo]

If there isn't enough time then something needs to be done. It's clearly a problem everywhere. They should book less people in if there isn't time. I always wait!! (And no I don't complain because I understand it's no one's fault) but seriously if appointments need longer than 10 mins then book less people in.
Like I said, last time I went, I waited ages and then the doctor was rude and didn't want to know about my problems. Just brushed it off and rushed me. It pissed me off. I know she's running late but that's not my fault. I was there early. I can say I was probably in the room max 3 mins.

[BooeyBubbleHead]

Also, I really do understand that delays are inevitable - I never complain about being kept waiting, and didn't mention it today. I always make an effort to be pleasant and show empathy. But there's no excuse for being so rude to someone who is clearly stressed and apologetic about being 5 mins late.

[HiDBandSIL]

YANBU.

[Lynnm63]

She claimed it wasn't infected when she saw me. Mind you she was a total cow.

[DesertIslandPenguin]

My DH got a bollocking by the receptionist at the dentist for being late to his appointment, by 2 minutes. He'd got there at 8.50 for a 9am appointment to find that their gate was locked, and because it was on a main road he couldn't stop, so had to do a long loop until it was open. The dentist came in with a cup of coffee 20 minutes later and had a chat with the receptionist for another few minutes before disappearing to get changed! He's now changed dentists.

[Phineyj]

Something I've noticed is that lists/clinics start late because the staff (not the dr/nurse/midwife necessarily) don't arrive and set up before the first appointment. So you come for 9am and they're just walking in/logging into the computer etc. So 10 mins late already and then it knocks on. As a teacher, I don't walk through the door at 9am for a 9am lesson!

My current GPs are rarely late and always polite so there are definitely good ones - I used to have to wait up to 2 hours to see the hospital midwives though.

[jacks11]

Blue- there are few (if any) Dr who never runs late. You are being ridiculous (and perhaps a little sarky) to request that, IMHO. If you chose not to wait more than 20 minutes, that's absolutely up to you. I can only assume that whatever your problem was it wasn't sufficiently serious to warrant the wait.

How would you suggest I never run late? What would you suggest I do after I have just broken bad news to a patient, for instance? Kick them out the second their allocated time is up? Or if someone is unwell and needs urgent care? Is that the care you would like to receive, or the care you would wish for for your loved ones? I know it's not the care I'd like to give or to receive.

I can have a number of such consultations in an average clinic. So yes, sometimes I run late. Not usually more than 20 minutes, but sometimes longer than that. Last week I ran nearly 40 minutes late because I had a very unwell pt in a rural location and the patient needed to be transferred to a specialist centre after becoming really unwell. I had to provide immediate care until the patient could be transferred. Yesterday, I was running about 6 or 7 minutes late by around 11am after a few patients consultations took slightly longer (nothing incredibly serious but needed dealt with), until a woman whose husband had died suddenly a few days ago and was extremely distressed. She took an extra 10 minutes, so I was then running nearly 20 minutes late. Would you rather I dealt with those things properly or that I ran on time?

[Aeroflotgirl]

No apology Lynne or anything😥. You should have made a complaint against her.

[CotswoldStrife]

I used to attend an outpatient clinic at at hospital that had signs up requesting patients not to arrive more than 10 minutes early. They also had a whiteboard where they would write up how late the clinic was running. I walked in once and it said 2 hours but it was an area of medicine with a known shortage of consultants.

I did find that the ante-natal clinics always ran very late. I had an appointment on my due date which ran over by an hour and a half, my blood pressure was high (even the consultant said it was probably due to the wait) but because I was one of the last patients no-one was willing to stay behind and take it again after a break.

[IJustAteTheKidsFoodAgain]

Midwives are getting a pasting! In fairness I've never had a midwife appointment on time but my midwives always gave me all the time and attention and went above and beyond at most appointments. I felt the waiting time was part of them providing a service that they aren't given enough time/money to provide so always accepted that their lateness was part of that. My gps on the other hand are rarely late, they're also rude and make it clear you need to get out asap, I'd honestly rather the lateness. OP YANBU though, circumstances out of our control happen, it's annoying when you're the one waiting but there's no excuse for rudeness.

[Aeroflotgirl]

Actually I have noticed the Drs at our surgery are running on time, if I see the nurse practitioner, she runs excessively late, 45 mins.

[knackeredanddrowsy]

I work in GP setting.
If a patient is more than 10 minutes late and we're running behind we explain that they will be seen but they may need to be slotted in later in the session. They can choose to wait or rebook.

Mostly people are apologetic if they're late and there's usually a valid reason. It's totally unnecessary to be rude.

The only time I get cross if someone is persistently late and then complains about being kept waiting because I've seen the next patient.

[Trojanhorsebox]

But Jacks what about when one arrives at 8.20, for an 8.30 appointment, ask at 9.15 if there's a problem, are told the Dr has been delayed in surgery and the Dr you see is the lady you saw rushing through the car park and entering through a side door when you queried your apt.? Not great is it? Bet she blamed a late running clinic on patients being late.

If this was a GP they may have been doing an urgent home visit on the way to the surgery - just because they are not in the consulting room, it doesn't mean they're not working. Yes, they could have overslept etc but you don't know what delayed them and reception staff won't breach confidentiality by telling you the details, they'll just say something vague.

Or if "delayed in surgery" is literally true, as in they're a surgeon, they could have been operating on an emergency case overnight before coming to the outpatient clinic.

[jacks11]

Oh the roses

Well, clearly if your Dr is regularly arriving 30 minutes to an hour late to work then you have a point and you'd be entitled to complain about it. There isn't a good excuse for arriving late to work on a regular basis and I would expect the practice or hospital to tackle that. I'd be very surprise if they didn't, as in my experience it is noted and dealt with quite quickly, but I recognise there is bad practice in some places.

I am very, very rarely late into work (and even then it has only been by 15 minutes max), and the same goes for my colleagues. However, I occasionally do home visits on my way in to work (usually pre-arranged, often to elderly or palliative patients) and have been detained that way. It may look like I'm simply turning up late if you saw me walk in late.

[harderandharder2breathe]

Yanbu she should be more professional than to let her annoyance show

My last doctor app was the 3rd of the day, it was half an hour late, doctor apologised and said she'd needed to get a previous patient admitted which obviously takes more than 10 minutes allotted appointment

I don't believe HCP deliberately run late at all! Why would they when it means missing lunch or staying late? It's simply that they have too many patients in too short a time, and patients may be very ill, may have sensitive discussion that can't be rushed, may need referring urgently, may have several issues that all need attention. It's no ones fault, I'm not blaming those patients, but it's not the HCP fault either

[AllotmentyPlenty]

How long was your journey? Unless I am walking, I usually aim to arrive 20 minutes early to appointments and take a good book expecting to wait. Have not been late to an appointment yet, though have worked out that our local hospital is better by bus than car as it is the parking that makes arriving on time hair-raising.

[OhTheRoses]

I have no objection to those sorts of delays jacks. But I do object to the snarky notices and jobs worth type staff one sometimes has to deal with.

I was up at 6.15 this am, in central London at 8.45 for a 9am meeting, back in Surrey at 11.45. Ate at my desk, and left work at 8pm. Left work at 2pm last Friday because dd had a long standing medication review with the GP - the one who knows her case. Broke my neck to get there and took a half day of annual leave (should have left at 1 but, guess what, I have responsibilities too). Arrived to be told the Dr had cancelled the clinic - our apt wasn't cancelled. Earliest with one of the better Drs we cd get was 5.10 one night next week. I have had to rearrange a mtg and will have to leave work at 4pm. DD will miss a rehearsal. Went back for ds's repeat prescription on Monday and only one of the three items,was written up. Receptionist huffed and muttered about prescriptions needing two clear days' notice but she did get it sorted when I explained.

It isn't always due to the ghastly patients you know. And yes we would change but there are two of the seven gps who know ds's case and it's complex and I don't have the strength.

It cuts two ways you know and some of us have commitments and responsibilities as pressing as the average doctor's. The attitude that we don't is irksome and doesn't help build trusting relationships.

[IamtheZombie]

Zombie fell out with her GP nearly a year ago. Which is a real shame as she actually does need to see him regularly.

However, despite her never having been late for an appointment (and frequently having to wait at least 30 minutes past appointment time), she received a bollocking from him for not signing in using the touchscreen until 4 minutes BEFORE her scheduled appointment time. WTactualF???

[ohtheholidays]

She was in the wrong you weren't and I say that as someone who has to go to my Dr's every few weeks(seriously ill and disabled)for numerous bloods,tests,check ups ect and I don't complain when my Dr's is running late even if it's because someone else has turned up a few minutes late for they're appointment and I'm constantly in pain.

I agree with the pp as well about double standards I had one Dr at our surgery who was always late sometimes she'd call me in nearly an hour late and not so much as a sorry and it wasn't because of her patients she was a lazy arsehole who was constantly taking a coffee break(I named her Coffee Breaks)I nearly called her Coffee Breaks one day instead of Dr name the surgery replaced her thank God!

Life can be shit and shit happens!

[harderandharder2breathe]

Blueblueskies you can't be that ill if you won't wait, so why bother taking up appointments at all?

[Mungobungo]

I'm a hcp and it is frustrating when people are late as, as a pp has said, there is a knock on effect on the rest of the appointments that day and does often eat into my own lunch break (I often don't get one). That said, I HATE running late and always apologise to my patients for any lateness, but also try to explain that sometimes complications pop up and people often need more than the set appointment time to sort out these issues. I'd like to think that all of my patients know that if ever they need that little bit extra, they'd be confident that I'd be giving everything I can to get them sorted rather than watching the clock.

I was once told I was 'too late' for a GP appointment and they refused to see me - I had arrived 5 minutes early and stood in a huge queue for the reception to be told when I got to my desk that I was 8 minutes late and therefore missed my appointment! I was totally shocked - I understand them having a limit but I was in the bloody building!!! I ended up kicking up a fuss and ended up with a sit and wait appointment and went in 20 minutes later.

As it stands, you were delayed and you apologised. That shouldnt have had any impact on the way that you were treated today. You still deserve to be spoken to with kindness and respect.