Was I U with dr receptionist

[Namechangemum100]

Genuinely interested to see if my response was unreasonable...

Called Dr to make appointment for Ds to have his 12 week immunisations. He had his 8 week set last week but was crying too much in the surgery for me to book the second appointment as there was a wait.

Called today to be told there was absolutely no appointments, and he would have to wait until he was 14 weeks for the next appointment.

I pointed out to the receptionist that as the schedule is set for 8-12-16 weeks, they should find a space for him as I know they offer appointments on the day if you call up, therefore find it very hard to believe there is absolutely nothing for him. She told me that it was fine for him to wait until 14 weeks as sometimes vaccinations are delayed when a child is I'll.

Aibu in thinking that

A) everyone and his mother tells us how important vaccinations are, and therefore delaying his by 2 weeks is not acceptable unless for health reasons

B) if the government set out a schedule of 8-12-16 week vaccinations, then appointments should be given as a priority to small babies

C) delaying for a non medical reason and leaving a baby exposed is not acceptable

D) surely there is a reason why they stagger them in 4 week intervals and therefore leaving it 6 weeks may affect effectiveness.

She did eventually manage to find me an appointment (as I knew she would, it's always the way with our surgery) but it has left me feeling very frustrated when we have the fear of God put into us about vaccinations and how important they are, yet I'm being flippantly told that my son can have his delayed without a medical reason.

And she spoke to me like I was shit on her shoe, probably because she gets spoken to like that by people like you and it gets taken out on the people who actually have a point
You know some people can be direct and assertive without talking to someone like shit

YWBU and rude to the receptionist.

As an aside, is it normal for parents to have to call up and make their own appointments for vaccinations?

With all my DC - youngest is 18 months - we’ve had vaccination appointments automatically sent to us in the post.

Ywbu. The schedule isn't rigid, and nurse is more likely to make a mistake if squeezed into a random clinic than done in the immunisation clinic where they're all set up and in the flow of it.

All those who keep saying I was rude...please could you let me know what I actually said to her that was rude? Clearly you were all listening in on the phone call and heard something specific that I have forgotten, as my op doesn't actually state the ins and outs of our conversation, it simple says "I pointed out to her", there are many ways in which this can be phrased in conversation without it being rude, for example "oh, I thought it had to be given at 12 weeks, is that not correct".

I liked how @BoomBoomsCousin put it, nicely and with understanding.

Yes, as it turns out YW(a bit)U, given a paediatrician and practice nurse have kindly and helpfully posted also to say a 2 week delay won't adversely affect your DC - receptionist was correct, they usually are on these things .. However it is nice that you are reassured now if it happens again, and also that you said you weren't rude anyway just worried. I'm sure your receptionist understands that.

Another PP gave great advice, if you can, book next appmt before your appmt that day, if baby cries afterwards and you want to go straight home.

From another side, I have to wait sometimes get urgent apmt with nurse for concurrent 4 weekly reviews or extra reviews with my DC when they are midst struggling with asthma exacerbations & trialing new med regimes, with practice asthma nurse (who also does baby jabs, other nursing care, she does a lot!) as we can't book 4 weeks ahead only 1-2 weeks in advance in our surgery, and every extra few days waiting longer (if something isn't working) feel very long... yet we wait for next appointment even if I've rung up first thing 8am on a Monday at appmt release time.. Practice nurses are like gold dust! ...
There are lots of acutely ill people that GP receptionists have to fit in. I think they do rather a grand job. I hope your DC is fine X

Ds had his at 8 weeks, 16 weeks and 12months/13 months. It was better he had them delayed like that as he was ill.

If your baby cries couldn't you just have a quick coffee and calm them down and then pop back to make the appointment? Or make it beforehand?

Namechangemum
She did eventually manage to find me an appointment (as I knew she would, it's always the way with our surgery)

She hasn't 'found' you one. She's given you one of the slots that would have been reserved for a paperwork catch up, or space catch up. They're marked in red on our system one to give HCP time to make sure important paperwork, records, an upset patient that's run over, a phone call to a housebound patient, a particularly sick child can be dealt with.

You were entirely unreasonable.

YABU

Re-read your post and you should understand why people consider you to have been rude. Or maybe you won't.

Its not the receptionist fault you have 2 dc under two and cant cope

It's fine to wait two weeks.

I'll immediately say, yanbu. Drs' receptionists are notoriously stony-faced patronising asshats. Now to actually read your OP...

@cabininthewoods69...woah where does it say I can't cope?! How dare you. We cope just fine thank you very much!

The replies to this thread have been far far ruder than I would ever dream of being!

Don't public health issue your appointments? We don't book you just get sent it through the post.

OP are you not going to reply to Rachie? She offered some insight into the booking system.

Hmm, well, it's the system that is at fault. I don't see that you were rude per se. In your situation I'd have called back and asked to speak to a practitioner to check it was okay to leave a longer gap.

@rachie...I genuinely didn't realise that it worked like that, not working in the profession myself, and can see that my insistence on an appointment may have eaten into these tasks and for that I have been unreasonable. I will keep that in mind for the future.

@lostfrequencies...it's easy for posts to get lost when you are taking hits left right and centre...but I have now replied to her comment.

If it's that urgent why did you wait a week?

I genuinely didn't realise that it worked like that, not working in the profession myself,

Namechangemum100 This relates to my earlier point, OP. As I said, nobody wants to be difficult with patients/customers/clients. They’re not just being an arse because they feel like it.

There are genuine reasons you can’t always get what you want when you want, and just because you don’t know what they are doesn’t make them any less valid.

Since you don’t work in that field, thats even more of a reason not to kick off be assertive to try and get your own way, but rather to listen to what the person who does work in that field is telling you. That is applicable in all fields, not just this one.

@whatshallidonowpeople...rtft...didn't wait a week, appointment Friday afternoon, closed at the weekend, called at first opportunity Monday.

You are being OTT, I have often purposely delayed vaccinations. Vaccinations are important but unless you are planning on travelling to a refugee camp I think your baby will be ok to wait two weeks.

@whattodoabout...again, didn't kick off, it's entirely possible to be polite and assertive. I think you have cherry picked my reply here as I have admitted I was unreasonable and taken on board the comments...what more would you like from my response?

True, they don't have to tell me the ins and outs of how their system works, but I was trying to act in the best interests of my child (as I believed they had to be given at 12 weeks which I now know is incorrect).

Just leave the thread op. You'll be repeating yourself all night. Yanbu to think they should be spaced in a certain order, it is what we are told to do. Turns out it's okay to have them a tiny bit delayed, Hurray. The receptionist has probably already forgotten about the call and you should too. I hope your baby is feeling better after the jabs.