To not want to disclose a further reason

[SquarePegRoundHole]

.... for requesting change of day of hospital appointment.

Consultant referred me to another department for tests. Received an automated phone call asking if I could attend on a particular day. Press 1 for yes, press 2 for no. I pressed 2. The automated service then said it wasn't actually cancelled and I would need to ring the number on my letter.

The said letter arrived 2 days later detailing the appointment which I had already said I could not attend. I rang the number on the letter and I spoke to a real person.

I said I was unable to attend that day and could I please have another appointment. I was asked what the reason was I could not attend. I said I was unable to get there that day. This led to being asked a further 2 times.

The operative then stated I will cancel it but I can't make you another one as the person whose job that it is isn't here. He sounded stroppy. I let it go, said ok and bye etc.

9:00 am this morning same person telephoned me and reiterated that I had cancelled an appointment and was I sure that I could not make it. Yes I said I was sure. He said there wasn't any other appointments available for the foreseeable further so was I SURE I could not attend. WTAF.

I remained calm and unruffled and said I was a 'fellow professional' and be assured if I could attend on said day I would but I couldn't. They then offered me 1 of 3 other appointment times/days.

I'm perturbed on several levels. Their continual need to keep asking why I was unable attend, asking me on two separate occasions several times 'if I was sure I was unable to attend', them with holding appointments and brow beating me to attend etc.

AIBU or where they?

[TheLittlePaperbagPrincess]

YANBU. I think some parts of the NHS have got a bad culture. Part of this is an unfortunate attitude that NHS staff are more important than anyone else and that anyone who doesn't realise this is foolish/childish.

An old flame of mine is an NHS GP and he actively encourages his patients to be "the CEO of their own health" - this includes making informed decisions, researching things like diet, pushing for information and politely challenging anyone who doesn't explain things until they are comfortable. That is a great tiitude I think- and it is borne of his experience within the system, seeing people get pushed around and treated a bit like livestock.

[Sirzy]

Patient choice only applies when the clinic is running and has space though so it is pretty limited (understandably!)

[mummytime]

I don't think you were unreasonable. I do think it's a bit off that he lied by saying there were no available appointments.
But he's probably under pressure to fill the appointments, and not to let people change them.

In my area the only help to get to appointments is via a charity which uses volunteer drivers.

[MrsWhiteWash]

Just how many times do I have to say I DID tell the person on the phone that I was unable to get there that day

That wording is a bit unclear. I can see that being taken as you can't get there so some unspecified reason.

Why suggested saying you can't physically get there.

Beside repeating - broken record technique - no sorry can't do that - no sorry that doesn't work - till there is a mutually acceptable time - is fairly standard in my dealing with most people these days and appointments.

I do wonder though - it once two took or three phone calls to cancel an automatic eye appointment for one of my children at hospital- school test they got distracted we did high street one and everything fine - I did wonder then how many missed ones they had as people just didn't persists in getting rid of unwanted appointments.

[RedAndYellowPeppers]

YANBU
Being polite isnt optional on the NHS. And nor is it ok to suddenly become nice an s polite to another HCP when you are as artsy ans you lie with anyOne else.

[fairweathercyclist]

They always have a cancellation list so I'm not sure why they care if someone cancels an appointment ahead of time. My mother has been seen much faster by phoning up every week and making sure they know she's flexible and can take a cancellation. Sometimes it has saved her 2 months' waiting time.

The NHS is not free, it is paid for by our taxes so we don't have to be grateful and beholden, we pay for it.

[SquarePegRoundHole]

I have reported my own thread title as it's incorrect. I did immediately post underneath how it should read but I think most of you missed that post. Hopefully MN will amend.

[NinonDeLanclos]

Next time rather than just say I can't get there on that day, I will waft and weave a flowery story as to why I can't attend, so ridiculous that it must be true

?? Why not just be mature and tell them the truth, as you could have done this time, end of conversation.

[NinonDeLanclos]

There's a lot of pressure on NHS appointments.

I couldn't attend an allotted appointment for an MRI scan recently and I had to explain why I couldn't make it. It's a hassle for them to rebook & send out another letter, and I think it's perfectly justified to ensure that patients have valid reasons for not being able to make it, rather than just not fancying it.

[ThisThingCalledLove]

From their point of view, they have asked three times why you don't want to keep the appointment provided (it's not unreasonable for them to ask this - you could be an inpatient and already have seen the same consultant as recently happened to me! Or you might want to be discharged, anything!)

They asked you three times and you refused to answer - if you had just explained it wouldn't have been an issue and you wouldn't have to tell them you were a fellow professional

It does make me when people cancel appointments when the waiting lists are so long at the moment, still, it frees up the slot for someone like me who is desperate for an appointment....

[harderandharder2breathe]

I said he was wrong to be rude! Nobody has said he was justified in being rude.

If his attitude changed because of what you said (for better or for worse) that is wrong. I said I would judge someone who said that to me but that I would still be polite.

[Verbena37]

This thing called love
Let's just say for arguments sake that the OP had a close f ally funeral to attend that day. She wasn't cancelling the appointment altogether, she was chaning it to another day....using the phone number given to change or cancel appointments!

Nini pretty sure that people don't cancel MRI scans just because 'they don't fancy it'.

I don't get why people are being so narrow minded towards the OP and what she did. It's actually none of the hospital's business why she couldn't make it. Imagine if she worked at the same hospital but had a job interview that day, why should she have to tell them the actual reason? There is a specific service being provided to allow patients to change or cancel appointments! She called in advance to change it.
she only said fellow professional to make them aware she was being honest and not wasting their time!!!!

[WrongTrouser]

she only said fellow professional to make them aware she was being honest and not wasting their time!!!!

But the implication of this is that all professionals are honest and never waste people's time whilst it's reasonable to assume a non-professional is not honest and might waste people's time

[SquarePegRoundHole]

Ninon' Next time rather than just say I can't get there on that day, I will waft and weave a flowery story as to why I can't attend, so ridiculous that it must be true

?? Why not just be mature and tell them the truth, as you could have done this time, end of conversation.
Add message | Report | Message poster NinonDeLanclos Mon 27-Feb-17 11:26:01y

I WAS MATURE AND I DID TELL THE TRUTH!

[SquarePegRoundHole]

Thisthingcalledlove They asked you three times and you refused to answer. WTAF !!!!! Where in any of my posts did I state that I refused to answer?


If you would like to take the time trtft you might not post such rubbish.

[Pseudonym99]

Imagine if your hairdresser sent out pre-arranged appointments then complained if people rang up to try and change them!

[Sirzy]

Comparing a hairdressers appointment to a medical appointment? Seriously

[SquarePegRoundHole]

I am at some of the harsh replies to this thread. Just what is it people read into threads that makes posters so unkind and in some instances refer to 'facts' that have not been posted. Such as I'd refused to answer. No I did not.

Why are the majority of posters missing the fact that the person on the other end of the phone was unprofessionally, unethical, manipulative and told lies. Sheeeesh, I just think you all hate Mondays and you'll be mean if you want too. all round on me

[IamFriedSpam]

Yeah seriously the NHS is not a private service to be enjoyed at everyone's convenience like a hairdresser. It is simply not possible to run the service with people picking and choosing their appointment time - all of this costs time, money and resources we don't have. Obviously if you actually physically cannot make an appointment you should be able to change it but believe me people miss serious health appointments for spurious reasons just blithely assuming they can then can get another at a more convenient time.

The guy shouldn't have been rude to OP but it's totally understandable that he makes sure she has a valid reason for changing the appointment time.

[melj1213]

Just how many times do I have to say I DID tell the person on the phone that I was unable to get there that day

Yes, but there's a difference between "I can't make it that day" and "I have no transport available so can't attend that day"

The first is a very broad statement and could incorporate any number of reasons - including spurious and fickle ones - which is the receptionist was probably trying to get you to be more specific so that they could work out if it was something that they could fix.

The second says exactly the same thing - that you can't attend - but gives a definite reason - transport. That way the receptionist knows that it is a genuine reason and can possibly offer a solution where possible - either a different date or the details of how to access the hospital's patient transport system that would allow you to attend the appointment offered.

Anyone who mentioned being a "fellow professional" would piss me off - I don't give a shit if you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a burger flipper at McDonalds, it doesn't change how you're dealt with, the only way that happens is if you're rude, entitled or demanding.

[SapphireStrange]

Why are the majority of posters missing the fact that the person on the other end of the phone was unprofessionally, unethical, manipulative and told lies.

I don't get this either.

[scottishdiem]

"I was a 'fellow professional' and be assured if I could attend on said day I would but I couldn't"

Well this is a problem. I know a number of professionals who are wankers and who would cancel appointments, seek to rearrange etc for reasons up to and including shoe shopping with friends.

"I had said right at the beginning that I wasn't able to attend due to not being able to get there."

I have had this and it, likewise, has been true and I have been asked about that. I then asked the person if they knew could ask the hospital transport people to collect me. That was unlikely and I got a new appointment.

But the NHS is free at the point of use (and underfunded via a tax system where everyone wants the best possible healthcare available at the end of every road and every expensive medicine to prolong life for a few days but no-one wants to pay way more tax to fund it) and the staff there have to do their best to encourage and cajoled people to appointments. There is nothing wrong with being asked if you are sure, if you have no other options etc.