Doctors running late...

[Leehanne]

Now I know doctors get a lot of stuck. My dad is a GP and he's explained the reasons why they run behind. I don't mind them running late at all. For all I know someone had a heart attack in their office or they were attending to a baby which of course takes longer.

I'm sat in my docs surgery however and they're so far running an hour and 40 minutes late. The appointment is for my 9 week old DS who isn't well and also for me to ask a question about my own health. I've booked a double appointment.

Nobody can tell me how long they're going to be and I feel like I can't leave because it would be unfair on DS.

AIBU to think nearly 2 hours is a bit of a piss take with no apology or explanation?

Sorry, just here to rant. I'm so bloody tired and just want to be seen within the hour preferably...

Had an 11:40am appointment recently, got in to see Dr at 2:30pm, he's the witterer though, chuffs on and on about random stuff and makes every appointment at least 20 minutes. He is a good Doctor though, so I've learnt to just book the time off and take a book!

I sat in the doctors with a very poorly DS for a couple of hours once. When I asked how long they were going to be, I just kept being told to wait my turn; they were very busy.

Finally there was just me and DS left in the waiting room and, surprise, surprise, they hadn't booked me in properly. Apparently this merited a bit of a giggle from the receptionist. When I complained to the GP, the pompous twat tried bully me into shutting up and putting up. I moved to a different practice.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if its an admin cock up OP.

rather suspect patients like my arse of a SIL are why they run late. Wittering on and on with a series of fabricated ailments, constant appointments, and not shutting up.

I suspect then it's not SIL causing surgeries to run late but inexperienced doctors unable to successfully manage such patients. Not all people are perfect patients!

When you book in on arrival our system tells you how many appointments are before you so at least you get a heads up.

I suspect then it's not SIL causing surgeries to run late but inexperienced doctors unable to successfully manage such patients. Not all people are perfect patients!

She won’t leave when told, and kicks up hell if she’s asked.

When I have to wait I always tell myself it is because the doctors are listening to the patients and giving them the time needed to sort their problems.

Recently we saw a GP as the last appointment of the day with my OH, who has Parkinsons. We were there so long that the place was locked up and we had to be shown out of a back door. No-one grumbled or tutted. They could see how unwell he was. I was very grateful for their kindness and forbearance.

A 9 week old baby with a temperature is A&E.
Please dont waste time waiting at the Gp surgery / Walk in service

I bang on about this a lot in RL and on MN.... but it comes down to poor management. And it's a huge problem for the NHS. Our surgery has an absolutely terrifying office manager, but my word, she's effective. I've never had myself or DC seen more than 20 minutes late and they will book us in for emergency appointments in their walk in clinic if necessary. Even there, the wait isn't that bad - I think the most I've done is about 90 minutes. When newborn DS came in with sever vomiting I was sent back out to the waiting room while DR called local A&E to work out where to send us but saw a patient in between - I assume because she was waiting for someone to call her back. She then popped out with a letter for A&E and instructions on where to go and who to ask for.

However, both my sister and SIL have terribly inefficient surgeries. SIL can't get any help for her DS who has had some kind of chest infection and cough for months and DSis now mostly just pays for a private doctor as she can't be arsed.

Personally, I think the NHS should be investing in training and hiring decent management in local surgeries.

I'm finding all of this so frustrating at the moment. My Dad is very ill and having to have at least one GP appointment a week at the moment, not to mention blood tests etc. To take him it's a 2 hour round trip for me and we have NEVER waited less than an hour for these appointments. Also, when I need to phone them, despite ringing bang on 8.00 when they open the phone lines, by the time I've held on for 20-40 mins the appointments are all gone. Receptionist won't take appointments so it has to be a phone call. The time I spend on all this I could be helping my Dad practically or actually being with my children, it makes me mad!

After checking in electronically, waited 20 minutes and checked with reception. Sorry, not long to wait I was advised. Waited half an hour more and rechecked and was assured doctor would be with me soon. Five minutes later I was advised that there was no doctor as the surgery had been cancelled. Waited another 20 minutes to be slotted in with another doctor who was most unwelcoming as I was clearly delaying him finishing surgery. Practice manager told me she had left a message on my mobile. I didn't have a mobile. Left in tears.

I don’t think anyone has a problem with late running appointments (especially if due to emergencies) however it’s the lack of communication or acknowledgement that winds me up. It’s rude and unnecessary

I have no issue with running late (even over 1.5 hours) as there may be a reason for it. Leaving someone sat with a sick baby who can't speak for themselves in a waiting room for that time without any update is a bit shit? And it was the doc who advised me to come in when I rang at 8 this morning, they didn't mention anything about a&e...?

Nearly 2 hours is very late, so I can agree it's frustrating and inconvenient, as well as incredibly boring. Did you check with reception that they have indeed marked you as "In" and there wasn't an error which meant it looked like you hadn't arrived?

I'm a Dr. Believe me- we do not enjoy running late as it's very stressful and we know it annoys and upsets patients. It also means that we will be inconvenienced too- no lunch or home very late, for instance.

I would say, generally speaking, if we are running late it is highly unlikely that this has happened as we've decided to sit back and do nothing. I can understand that it's frustrating and boring having to wait a long time though. But one day, you or your child/partner /parent etc might be the patient who needed that extra time because you were sick or being told some awful news (or both). And if you get more than one of those in a clinic it is a bit of nightmare TBH. Add in to that patients turning up late, wanting to talk about lots of things other than the problem they've attended for and it can all add up to running rather late.

Yesterday, I was running nearly an hour late by 11am. I had had to break some truly awful news to a patient, which required a quite complicated discussion about treatment options and the implications of each choice as well as breaking the bad news- all of which meant I spent much longer than the scheduled appointment. The next patient we found something unexpected which took a bit longer. The next few were relatively straightforward and then I got a call from one of my colleagues in another speciality about another unexpected finding which required very prompt action- which I had to organise and slot this extra patient in later in the day. There were lots of other little things that caused me to run late- not one of them could I do anything about.

My best friend is a GP. She starts surgery at 9am- but will start at 8am. If she is the on-call Dr and an early urgent home visit call comes in she will have to go before her surgery and may appear to "waltz in late" to patients as she arrives back in the practice. Sometimes patients take longer than their allotted 10 minutes because they are sick and need urgent treatment/to have an emergency admission arranged or discussed with a specialist for example. Some are elderly and take a long time to get undressed/onto the examination couch and then explain what the Dr has found/the treatment plan and so on. Other patients want to discuss a series of problems but have only booked a single appointment (" I don't like to bother the Dr so save them up") and won't take no for an answer or actually have several things that do need to be looked at/treated there and then. Quite a few patients turn up late (and even a few minutes, if a few do it can push you back a bit when you are running on time)- some very late but still insist on or need to be seen.

It's hard to get right but agree it works better if reception staff can let patients know the Dr is running late and keep them updated. Often, that's really the only thing that can be done.

I got the first appt of the day once at 08.30.
Watched out the window as the doctor walked in at 09.20. First patient called at 09.40.

That IS unacceptable without you being told why, or being informed of the late arrival at least. If this is the norm (unlikely), then they are seriously taking the p* or are managing very badly. I entirely understand delays later in the day, as it must be very hard to predict how long an appointment will actually take. For that reason, I always try to take the least amount of time with my apppintment, by writing down my symptoms and being clear about I expect.

We are fortunate in that we have an electronic checkin system which also tells you the approximate waiting time.

Actually there are no NHS guidelines that say one appointment one issue. Nor any that say appointments have to be 10 or 15 minutes. These are standards used by many GP practices to help manage their time. Sometimes it is effective, if you have an average sort of patient cohort. However if you have a needy population, then it won’t work.

The problem is that many practices default to this simple system because it is easy to operate and / or because they are too small to offer anything different. Added to which is a lack of staff that would allow them to work differently.

Demand for NHS services, GP and hospital, is actually really quite predictable. That includes emergencies. The problem is a lack of capacity and how they manage the capacity they have. They should be operating at a % of their total capacity, an optimal level. Too often demand exceeds that and they operate at 100% and leave some demand unmet, this is the queue or the wait.

Leehane 1 appointment 1 problem not faesable at €55 a visit and when you have kids so prioritise them over yourself. I go once a year if even for me (thank goodness) Sil is a gp and she even says it where people have to pay they'll want to get value for their money and they deserve to get their issues dealt with where people don't have to pay they do one problem per appointment and they deserve the same

It is nice to see that so many people understand and appreciate why doctors run behind. And I can absolutely understand the frustration at waiting without being informed why. It is worth making a polite complaint in writing to the practice, making it clear you are not complaining about the waiting itself, but the lack of communication and ask them to think about implementing a system at booking in that advises patients if there is a long wait.

I do think there is some element of culture in some places, not just pressing demands. My dd goes to the epilepsy clinic, previously they were all booked for 9:30 and the doctor just saw them anytime between 9:30 and 12 (meant to finish earlier). Could easily be there 2.5 hours, often saw her walk in at 10:30. New person, same job, introduced timed slots, sees you promptly, unless called to a ward and you’re informed. Also added dietician to clinic and specialist nurse coordinated with it

And I also say culture as her entire way of communicating is different, she listens, eye contact, works with you. The previous who swanned in late barely gave the respect of glancing at you, talked at you and spoke like you were too stupid to be involved

OP, hope your little one is ok.
To others who see the GP “waltz in late”, did it not occur to you that they may still be doing their job but elsewhere - home visits and care home visits take ages. Often, a GP will visit a nursing home and be there much longer than expected due to the nature of such sick people.

I worked on a client, on one clinic the doctor used to rock up a least an hour late every time. Because he was a very well thought of consulatant there was no comeback.

He had not been called to anything before hand he was just rude and thought his time was more precious. So even though is more likely not in some cases it can be the doctors fault

Well, I have been the cause of Doctors running late a few times so "my bad".

Once I collapsed in reception and had to have an ambulance called for me (5 day stay in hospital), another time they had to do an immediate cyst drainage on my lady parts and another time I was was ready to top myself and that amazing doctor basically saved my life.

All those times I was too ill to think "oh god, what about the other people waiting?"

Also, what do you want the receptionist to say? Do you want them to tell you private information about someone?? I wouldn't have wanted the receptionist to have to tell everyone "sorry for the delay, the doctor is currently draining about a litre of green pus from a patients HUGE infected cyst which is right on her fanny flaps". or "sorry to keep you waiting but the Doctor is trying to get emergency treatment and rest bed and help for someone who is so overwhelmed with working full time 10 hours a day and being someones full time carer when they get home from work for over 2 years with no help from anyone that they have broken from the strain of it all".

All the receptionist can tell you is the doctor is running late and when you are next in line to be seen.

If your baby had taken a turn for the worse then you tell the receptionist and they will then fit you in next slot.

So when my Doc is running late I just sit and wait because they could be trying to save a life or telling someone they are going to die.

Why would the receptionist need to say more than “the dr is dealing with an emergency, I can’t say how long the delay will be but it may be lengthy, if anyone has a non urgent appointment I would be happy to rearrange”

No details given but keeps the people in the waiting room informed

@Badcat666 there's no issue with them running late though. I've acknowledged that this isn't an issue and is just life...

When you're sat there for close to two hours and the receptionist can only say 'it's Christmas 🤷🏽‍♀️' and can't even tell you how many patients are ahead of you, how long it's likely to be etc then yes I think there is a huge communication problem.

I think people are agreeing with you...

Badgoat the receptionists are perfectly able to give an adequate answer to why a GP would be running nearly two hours late without breaking confidentiality. I accept about 45mins is normal, but for this type of delay I'd expect an explanation and updates.