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?

I'd still go and give it a shot. I once got sent an appointment for a clinic for a certain medical condition, that I usually attended in my home town, but this time at a hospital in a city about an hour away. Must be a good reason, I thought; arranged extra time off work, went there. Admin error where someone had clicked the wrong hospital on a drop down list.

YANBU to expect more than a day's notice of a change of appointment, and obviously most people can't just change their work appointments with so little notice either I think some posters are being very unreasonable in terms of what they are expecting you and your work to do.

Thanks for everyone who has taken the time to respond.

I think it's very easy to forget how overstreatched our resources are with regards to the NHS and Im grateful for everyone who has contributed their thoughts.

I will call them in the morning to explain and hopefully we can find something that works, otherwise I'm happy to go private.

Thanks also to the poster who advised RE healthcare. I had spoken to my provider earlier on regarding upping policies and I would effectively have to take out a new policy for mat care and sister it along with my existing Nuffield policy. It's more money but to be honest this thread has made me realise that my expectations are far too high for a free at the point of use care system and I'm not being fair moaning about it.

Must admit I'd be tempted too. In fact I did something similar once.

I called arranged Dds ultrasound.happened to grab the post that came through the door on our way out. Opened it on the bus to the hospital to discover they had sent out a letter with the appointment the following week (and no I wasn't mistaken with the date)

Was already on the way to hospital for said ultrasound so chanced it.

A second earlier and id not have had the letter.

Too short a norice. They should have called

I can't believe the hard time the op is getting here. This level of service is unacceptable. The appointment was booked almost two months in advance. The op works hard in a professional job and has arranged her schedule to facilitate an appointment. The cancellation letter is too late, it should apologise for the inconvenience and should say if the new appointment is inconvenient the op can rearrange a mutually convenient one.

The NHS is free only at the point of delivery and we should all start demanding an excellent standard of service and care. We have all been brainwashed into being grateful for it for far too long.

I hope your scan goes well OP. Sadly I had a 20 week scan once that didn't. My schedule thereafter changed the rest of my life. But I do see where you are coming from and I sympathise. Sadly the NHS doesn't see it that way but please don't just turn up tomorrow.

I think the thing is OP your legal right isn't just to time off in an emergency, it's to general time off to all a/n care including this kind of scan

'Pregnant employees have 4 main legal rights:

paid time off for antenatal care
maternity leave
maternity pay or maternity allowance
protection against unfair treatment, discrimination or dismissal
‘Antenatal care’ isn’t just medical appointments - it can also include antenatal or parenting classes if they’ve been recommended by a doctor or midwife.'

www.gov.uk/working-when-pregnant-your-rights

But as I said, I have a DH and many friends who work in positions and industries where it isn't the done thing, regardless of what the law says. I do get it, genuinely I do. But in that position I think you do need to be honest about what the NHS can provide and consider private - you could start by getting the anomaly scan privately and then take it from there.

Well going against the grain here but I would go for the original appointment and deny all knowledge of it being changed. Given that its a bank holiday you could easily have not got the letter until tomorrow, or even the day after.

At the very least if they wanted to change it then they should have called you rather than writing to a) have it confirmed at their end that you know tomorrow is cancelled and b) give you a fighting chance to attend the new appointment.

Fact is that you are all geared up to go so you might as well and see what happens.

I would phone and check tomorrow morning as it could be an admin error. I've had that a few times, had a massive panic (and these letters always seem to come on Saturday when you can't deal with it until Monday!) and everything has been sorted easily when I've phoned. Hopefully that is the case for you.

Unfortunately sometimes appointments have to be changed at short notice and I've had this a few times too. It's frustrating but it happens. The NHS can be a bit like that for routine stuff I find but in an emergency they are amazing.

I think the thing is OP your legal right isn't just to time off in an emergency, it's to general time off to all a/n care including this kind of scan

That's all very well, but it is difficult for most businesses to suddenly accommodate this, for a non emergency appointment, with just 1 days notice. It isn't having time of the appointment the is the issue, it is the limited notice that is the problem.

Id struggle to tell work tomorrow that I need half a day off on Wednesday - who would cover my lessons? who would look after the childrenn in my care whilst I was away from the classroom?

Maybe I have missed this as I skim read but it depends on whether the letter was confirming your appointment and stated a different one from the one you agreed (in which case I would phone and explain that you thought it was a different day) or they are rescheduling. If it is that latter then you could phone to say this is too short notice and make a new appt. However, you are entitled to go for scans etc during working time and your employer should really let you go if you explain the situation.

I understand your frustration OP. I'm a geotechnical engineer and can be in a different location everyday for a month, with plant booked and a big knock on effect for things going wrong mybebd. But- and I say this as a veteran of 2 Nhs pregnancies - the hospital will have had a reason to postpone you. If you just rock up, it's pretty unlikely that you'll be seen. My youngest is 5, and I probably live in a difference town to you, but I had quite a lot more than just my scan at 20 weeks; quite a lengthy MW appt I seem to remember and a chat with my consultant. They are only trying to save you a wasted journey.

If you do decide to go private for a scan I highly recommend babybond. I had a number of scans done privately and the sonigraphers were all NHS ones that did private scans as well, the equipment was all HD (some NHS unite have this but not all) and the scans were very detailed. You get copies of the report so I used to stick them in my hand held maternity notes. FWIW I'm a doctor in the NHS and still found it difficult to negotiate NHS maternity care at times due to work commitments so I do understand.

It would also be a pain and an increased financial cost to my work place if I has arranged to be off work tomorrow, and then turned up - they'd still have to pay for the cover teacher for my lessons as they couldn't just send them away unpaid on the morning. But would then have to pay again for the rearranged appointment.

I think the thing is OP your legal right isn't just to time off in an emergency, it's to general time off to all a/n care including this kind of scan

I realise that, but as far as I'm concerned, one day notice to cancel client meetings and waste train tickets is just not cricket. I know I perfectly entitled to do that, but it would be completely unreasonable and would make me no better than the NHS I'm currently moaning about.

I'm not so overly invested in my career that I would sacrifice mine or my child's health but knowing that one way or another I can get an anomily scan this week, I couldn't possibly cancel client appointments and risk losing business unless it was absolutely an emergency.

OP - yes you can have a private scan and a good idea as it will fit in with your work plans. It is going to be harder going forward however if you need other NHS appointments - things change at the last minute and you will need to be mindful of this and perhaps a little more accommodating. However hard you feel changes to your work diary are, they hardly compare to being shifted because of emergencies especially in maternity.

I'm surprised so many are against you turning up to the arranged appointment. Yes, the NHS is under pressure but then all the more reason to employ staff to make and book appointments who can understand the 24-hour clock and dates in each month!

I understand your work predicament. Yes your employer has to give you time off but you have to give notice, which you've done.

If we don't go to work, who pays tax for the NHS in the first place? It's a two-way street.

I would say it's not at all unreasonable to keep the appointment you made but it is a risk, so from that perspective, it's up to you.

cherish I agree but if the new appointment is not negotiable and the expectant mother has a meeting on the new date in Paris with key clients, or a client has a tribunal hearing or she is the accompanist for students taking their ABRSM exams, or she is chairing a disciplinary hearing at work, then those things can't be rearranged at the drop of a hat or without an employer picking up the bill for cancellations.

Working people fund the NHS and those with the greatest work responsibilities probably contribute the most. It's tough in the real world. Flakes are usually the first to go in a restructure.

The NHS really needs to wake up to the realities of the professional responsibilities of those to whom it needs to provide services, indeed is paid to provide services.

The appointment has probably been cancelled as there is no scan session running due to broken equipment or staffing issues so really no point turning up without checking. It's unlikely to be because someone can't count...

I think you're absolutely right in your most recent post. The nhs has a brief around meting medical need and sadly, when resources are so stretched, meeting medical need is all that can be achieved and working to acceptable appointment schedules isn't a priority .

In my experience you will struggle to access private maternity care end to end if you're not in London however definitely pay for scan appointments and possibly a private midwife. This will give you the convenience you need. I spent hours waiting in doctors surgeries and hospital clinics during my pregnancies which wasn't ideal but I accepted my time was not a priority to the overstretched service.

This is why I believe the nhs is no longer sustainable. If health care was means tested people using it would accept they were accessing a free service and the limitations of it. Everyone else would pay for a consumer driven service.

I've turned up for an appointmentpointment that was cancelled, they hadn't written to tell me and two departments blamed each other - up shot was there was no appointment so had to go home.

The appointment has probably been cancelled as there is no scan session running due to broken equipment or staffing issues so really no point turning up without checking. It's unlikely to be because someone can't count

Wanna bet.

I've received letters for two different dates for the same appointment on more than one occasion.

Received appointment letters with the wrong departments on etc

Seems The right hand never knows what the left hand is doing...

Wow. Rude and entitled much?
You are looking forward to this scan and are obviously concerned it should go ahead.
Your appointment has been postponed.
It's a vital scan but you are so incredibly busy and important you couldn't possibly make the new time?
Rubbish.
Either you want the appointment or you don't. Equipment failure, staff illness and 101 other things may mean appointments have to be cancelled. The lack of notice is a complete pain but if an appointment has to be rescheduled what do you expect them to do? They won't be doing this for no reason.

The lack of notice is a complete pain but if an appointment has to be rescheduled what do you expect them to do? They won't be doing this for no reason

Erm then how about they call when it's such short notice and a bank holiday and a weekend means there's fuck all a person can do about rearranging or finding out what's going on.

If it arrived Friday they posted it Wednesday or Thursday. Meaning they could have called and given op three days to sort it.

Wow. Rude and entitled much?

Is that the conclusion you have drawn of me, having read the entire thread?

Because some of your points are incorrect, and I think you would have picked up on that if you had bothered to read? But don't let that get in the way of having a good pop at me.

As I've confirmed ( a couple of times now) I will call in the morning and if there has been a stuff up with dates that can't be resolved, I will go private.

It's NOT a case of my health or work, both can fit in with each other with a bit of planning. I now appreciate that the NHS can't keep to appointments and therefore I'm better going private.

I am going to be very unspecific as not sure about social media policy blah blah blah.
But where i am working (nhs admin), we get two thousand (2000) NEW referrals each and every week!
And we don't even cover all departments!
And every patient who is reffered in, is meant to be seen in 18 weeks. Oh, except for urgent referrals. That's two weeks.
The NHS is not being provided with enough money, to do what it needs to do. There are not enough drs for the amount of people who need care.
Please please everyone, realise that when appointments are cancelled, when it takes ages to be seen, that resources really really are stretched beyond belief. And that 95 percent of people in your local health trust, really are trying their best. 😌