To ignore the letter I've received from the hospital?

[Frillyhorseyknickers]

After my 12 week scan I booked an appointment with the reception for my 20 week scan, for tomorrow.

We've just come home from bank holiday away and I received a letter either Friday or Saturday stating a different day (the day after) for my scan.

I was really miffed because I'd been looking forward to my scan (first pregnancy) and my diary is full now for the next few weeks. I had kept tomorrow afternoon free for the scan, but otherwise I am between four offices and I can't just free up a few hours at short notice.

My DH says we should go to the appointment tomorrow as booked and just discard the letter and deny all knowledge of it.

I feel really bad about doing that as it's NHS and they are obviously busy. DHs point is that we booked the appointment weeks ago, they have given us less than one working day's notice of the change and they are taking the piss.

WIBU to just turn up to the appointment I had arranged prior to this letter?

Op I hope you got it sorted. Not sure if youre self employed or not but remember you have a legal right to time off. Son measured big at my scan and I ended up on fortnightly growth scans. Nothing to worry about but it needed managing. You may also not feel up to loads of travel soon. Yes you're resilient but SPD was made by the devil himself, tiredness is harder towards the end etc. Just make sure you don't let work coerce you into working like youre not pregnant

Ah just caught , ignore me. Enjoy your scan.
Yes its an anomaly scan and I felt sick with fear before mine but I don't know anyone who doesn't look forward to seeing their baby

The NHS isnt free, its pre-paid by taxes, the same as a season ticket. You pay in advance and then its there if you need it.

Even if it WAS free though, I dont think thats an excuse to run it inefficiently. Its running on severely limited funds, and seeing appointments, consultants time and wages, scan appointments being funded from these limited funds and then WASTED through inefficient admin and information systems not giving people the information they need to use them really infuriates me.

When in another part of the country try booking a local appointment explaining your situation. I used to do this. Take id with you.

Frilly I hope you've had some joy in rearranging. Ideally it should be done by 20+6, although this timescale is in place only really to allow time for further investigation if it showed up anything untoward and so assuming all will be well, which for the vast majority it is, leaving it a few more days isn't a problem. I hope the sister was helpful for you.

I'm imagining a similar scenario where the OP is a NHS consultant in a different hospital who does scan clinics all day and had arranged cover for her original appointment date but can't arrange cover for the rescheduled date due to short notice. So on her appointment date she twiddles her thumbs not seeing umpteen patients she could have processed that day, then the following day she goes for her rescheduled appointment and the umpteen patients who turn up for her are told to go home as no-one to see them.

I'm sure the NHS defenders can think of a reason why it would be perfectly reasonable for all those appointments to be lost because it couldn't get one appointment right.

Oh wait, we can expand this. What if some of the umpteen patients sent home were NHS consultants who run scan clinics, and in total umpteen time umpteen appointments now have to be cancelled, all as a result of one being rescheduled.

If the NHS were fucking itself up (instead of other people and organisations) whenever it wasted someones time, maybe it would develop some respect for its patients.

A good scenario firesuit. Once you start thinking about it, there are many more where 'you have a legal right to time off' doesn't really address the problems.

Midwife running the 6 week vaccination clinic arranges appointment for a different day of the week, but it's rescheduled at 2 days notice to her clinic day. Can't get cover at 2 days notice.

Surgeon with a list already booked on the new date.

Moving outside the NHS there are still social costs:

Teacher teaching a GCSE group, appointment in the week before the start of study leave. She arranged the appointment for a date that she doesn't teach that class. It's moved with two days notice to a date that she does. Can't get supply cover, and anyway that is not an adequate replacement so close to GCSE.

Social worker with important case con - 6 other people from different departments also attending - all have to reschedule.

Frilly, not sure where you have got to on the scan, but hope it goes well wherever it is!

while i totally understand feeling disappointed if you turn up at your original all they will say is that the appointment had been rescheduled (with reasonable notice) and you are there on the wrong day and they are very very unlikely to see you and scan tomorrow. if they rebooked its cos of lack of time and or staff so fitting in extra patients who turn up on the wrong day is not possible most of the time.