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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To walk out the hospital before seeing the consultant

91 replies

StripeyBroomstickSpottyWand · 12/07/2007 20:59

My appt was at 3:15pm so got my mum to pick up dd from school. Appt was to discuss the results of my mammogram from 2 weeks ago.

It got to 4:00pm and I'm still in the waiting room. Now I know the nhs often runs late, etc through no fault of their own. But they have a notice saying if you will be more than 30mins late we will come and tell you so I was pissed off noone had. I went and asked the receptionist if it would be much longer and she said I was next.

5 mins later I was called into a room, told to strip my top things off and sit there. The nurse left and said she'd be back "in a minute" with the consultant. 15mins later she hadn't come back. I got dressed and left.

I guess I was a bit stressed by the whole experience of been called back. I was very pissed off about sitting by myself half naked in a room and none came back to tell me what was happening. I was also stressed about getting home and giving dd her tea so she could go to Beavers tonight. I wouldn't mind waiting so muc if they communicated a bit better.

OP posts:
Anoah · 13/07/2007 08:50

I haven't done any time in outpatients but don't they give the patients a gown to wear while they are undressed and waiting? if not then why not?

I understand why the OP was distressed and I think what happened to her was shitty but there are far worse things that can happen.

mm22bys · 13/07/2007 09:13

A little unreasonable...

I saw a GP yesterday - he took me in late, and I was with him for probably half an hour, and when I went to pay, the receptionist told me that the guy who had booked in after me had stormed out because he had had to wait too long.

I was stunned, that was so not my problem, I didn't care, and I told her so too (what did she expect me to do? Pay for the "missed" appointment?).

I wouldn't have walked out, but I would have tried to find the consultant myself!

Hope you get CLEAR results soon,

CountessDracula · 13/07/2007 09:15

omg

this was me yesterday

I waited an hour to be seen then asked and they said I was 10th!! So I told them I would have to re-book as I had to get back for dd

They bunked me up the list and saw me immediately though

CountessDracula · 13/07/2007 09:16

(it is the first time I have used the nhs for a long time other than gp, tbh I was rather shocked by how appalling it was)

Surfermum · 13/07/2007 09:22

I would have waited a) because I would have wanted the results that day, and b) because if I left I might have to go through all that waiting again.

As someone who has managed admin teams in the NHS could I just say that the receptionists are very often left in the dark about what is happenning and why doctors/clinical staff are running late. We've had situations where we've had patients waiting and we don't have a clue where the clinician is and can't get hold of them.

hippipotami · 13/07/2007 09:29

I do think walking out was unreasonable. They will have ended up wasting time looking for you, now they will have to squeeze you into another already fully booked clinic, making that one run late.

The nurse asked you to undress on the assumption the consultant would be there soon. If the consultant was held up it would more than likely be because of a difficult/traumatic/terminal case. So slip your top back on and gently remind someone you are there.

Imagine you were the one being given bad results. Would you want the consultant to say sorry but there is nothing we can do, have to go now there are other half dressed women waiting for me. No, you would want him to take time to talk to you / reassure you/ help you / answer your questions.

I have been through NHS breast clinics on 4 different occasions over the past 8 years - yes the waiting is a pain, but at the end of the day I put up with it because it is my health on the line.

lulumama · 13/07/2007 09:35

I actually do think you are being a bit unreasonable

you had your DD collected, so no worries there

I do agree you should not have been asked to strip until after the doctor had arrived, but you should have stayed, now you have the stress of going back again, what if your appointment is delayed again?

i hope that your results are ok though

Pitchounette · 13/07/2007 09:46

Message withdrawn

mamadoc · 13/07/2007 16:58

I hope you don't think this is flippant (I do realise yours was a much different situation) but I had a similar experience at an antenatal clinic. After waiting ages in the waiting room finally called through to see consultant but waited and waited and no-one came. When the consultant finally arrived she found me curled up asleep on the examination couch!

saralou · 13/07/2007 17:13

i agree on all fronts here, you should have been better informed about what was going on, but you shouldn't have left!

a complaint is much better dealt with at the time rather than being left for you to mull it over... now your letter of complaint will waste even more time while they investigate this. if you had spoken to someone their they could have resolved this easily.

i can't help but feel your the only one who has lost out in this situation really.

goodluck with your results.

alicet · 13/07/2007 21:20

I don't think you're unreasonable to feel p*ssed off at finding yourself in this situation.

However I do think you need to understand that unexpected things happen in the NHS all the time meaning that sometimes unfortunately patients are left waiting without being able to give them an explanation.

I am a doctor working in a breast unit and I have to say I dislike the practice of getting patients to undress before seeing the doctor. It hardly takes anytime to take your top off after all and I think its courtesy to say hello while they're still dressed! It is quicker though so if they were running late it might be that they were trying to save time.

I would also always apologise to any patient that had waited longer than half an hour - they might well have done so if you had waited to be seen. However when I go for an appointment myself I always make sure that I am prepared to stay a couple of hours past my appointment time - its common for clinics to run late and also common to arrange tests to be done while you are there (esp in a breast clinic)

The important thing now though is that you get another appointment. The easiest way to do this is probably to call your consultants secretary first thing on Monday and explain why you left and ask for a new appointment. Hopefully they will be understanding and sort you out.

iesha · 14/07/2007 17:26

Haven't read the full thread but have to put my tuppence in.

When heavily PG i went to docs for the final MW check and waited over an hour to be seen, when i asked what the wait was it turned out that no-one had noticed that the MW hadn't turned up for work that day. A room full of PG women should have given it away

Also went to see doc for something else (draggin along ds (2) was told there was no wait and I was next one in, 1/2 an hour later i was still waiting only to be told that the doc was upstairs in a new consulting room. went updstairs with a now tired and hungry ds, waited 15 minutes more, my name was called and someone else went in instead and was allowed to be seen first.

So, no it's not always because of an emergency, though of course this does happen. Have also had to wait when a patient went into cardiac arrest too, and have no prob with this.

FlossALump · 14/07/2007 17:30

One of our surgeons was off sick last week. 3 people on our ward has operations cancelled. One woman went ballistic about it, how it affected her life, how useless we were. Became verbally abusive and aggressive. Well, she got 'fitted in'. The other two had to come back 2 weeks later.

helenhismadwife · 15/07/2007 18:01

I think you are being a bit unreasonable its unlikely that the staff were sat about, they were likely to be dealing with emergencies or patients who are very upset and from experience that is not something you can just walk away from BUT there are a few things that I would like to say;
I think its a bit dehunamising to ask a patient to remove any of their clothes and then leave the room so wouldnt ask a patient to do it and as a patient I wouldnt do it.
Also it must have been really stressful for you anyway without the additional stress and tension of having to wait so long past your appointment time with no information as to what is happening until you asked

I hope when you go bck for your results everything goes well for you

Sixofone · 15/07/2007 19:28

Not unreasonable. I work in the NHS too and have had enough of seeing patients treated badly, and your treatment is just downright unacceptable. I've been on the receiving end too, kept waiting 6 hours once for a doctor to sign my prescription so I could go home. Which is why I am on the point of leaving to go and work outside the NHS, because I will then have the time to actually care for people. Ok, so it'll be the ones that can pay for it, but that's another argument for another thread

The fact that there might have been an emergency in this case that required the nurse's attention is pure speculation. You could just as easily speculate that the nurse decided to go for a fag break couldn't you?

There are guidelines in breast care about maintaining patient's dignity. Anyone could have walked in on you.

I would have done exactly the same as you, only would have made a bit more fuss on my way out the door

GOOD FOR YOU. If more people started behaving like customers instead of patients, the NHS would buck it's ideas up a hell of a lot quicker

hazygirl · 15/07/2007 19:38

i lost my grandson in december ,cot death busy friday night a and e ,lgi ,and staff were so busy usual friday night and everyone of staff were brill,i mean bloody brill,my parents in seventies went next day in their seventies and even they commented how brill they were looked after,one nurse walked over to where grandson was and carried him to my parents as mum bad on legs,fantastic care i will never forget

Anoah · 15/07/2007 20:16

allnurses.com/forums/f18/rules-er-long-170440.html

The link I posted is a pretty interesting read for those of you who are interested in seeing just how burned out some ER (A&E) nurses are these days. Even if you only read the first 2 posts it might put things into perspective.

FioFioJane · 15/07/2007 20:26

I am wondering whether the situation for waiting times is getting worse tbh. I have been to several appointments with dd lately where I have been kept waiting well over an hour (she has severe special needs) and I dont think it is appropriate without explanation. fAIR enough in a&e, but in a normal clinic it becomes excessive when you have other family commitments. I am sure it never used to be that bad

FioFioJane · 15/07/2007 20:26

i ahev spent fair too much of my lifein nhs hospitals btw

gess · 15/07/2007 20:30

Do they not let dd queue jump fio? DS1 didn't wait even a minute last time we were in A & E. Didn't wait for an x-ray either, straight in. The first time we went (for the same thing) he was kept waiting 5 minutes. They were very good (and quite keen to be rid of him I think )

Having said that he never jumped queues at the CDC and it was a bloody nightmare, luckily they all go to see him at school now which makes life a lot easier.

teafortwoandtwofortea · 15/07/2007 20:40

While I understand your upset and frustration I can absolutely promise you that in our clinic no consultant or health professional sits down all day. We work our socks off to try and get everyone seen and regularly miss lunch (the only break we're allowed in the NHS) because clinics run late and I am unusual because I leave on time. I only do that because if I don't I would be late to pick my children up and then thay'd lose their nursery place. Everyone else at my workplace works late.

What you should have done is slipped your top back on and gone back to reception to ask what the hold up was. What actually happened was probably that the nurse and cinsultant wasted time looking for you and not being able to see someone else.

If you're not happy, make a complaint in writing. It will be dealt with quickly and the urse and consultant will know why you were upset. Hopefully they will make changes to their practice so it doesn't happen again. But honestly - you didn't help yourself or them. And very seriously, what if you do need treating? an hour today would've saved a extra 2 weeks wait (or more) and you don't know if it's that two weeks that could make all the difference to you. Sorry to be so harsh but we're here to help save your life, it's not like going to the bank to sort your direct debits out, it's blo^dy serious.

expatinscotland · 15/07/2007 20:43

If I've waited long enough to leave I always go to the appointment desk and say, as pleasantly as possible, 'I'd like to reschedule. I've been waiting here (X amount of time) and I have another commitment I need to attend.'

mangojuice · 15/07/2007 20:59

When I have my appts at the breast care centre they always tell me to undress and await the consultant, perhaps it is normal to?

I always keep my bra on though, it doesn't take a minute to remove that when they arrive and it stops you feeling quite so odd perched on the couch behind the curtain waiting for the door to open...

saggermakersknockturnalley · 15/07/2007 21:24

How stressful for you Stripey.

It's shame they didn't keep you better informed, especially important I would think in that type of clinic. Patients are bound to be more anxious than usual. Have you made another appointment? I hope it's good news.

I do think it is getting worse though. Like Fio we spend alot of time in NHS clinics. Our last orthopaedic appointment was a 10.30 slot. We didn't get seen until after 1.30; a shockingly long wait for a paeds. clinic. Too many patients and sadly not enough staff.

Spidermama · 15/07/2007 21:32

What a horrible experience stripey. You shouldn't have been treated like this. It's very upsetting. I would probably have done the same then regretted it profoundly.

Anoah your attitude infuriates me. Of course there are people worse off. That's always going to be the case but that's not to take away from the stressful and upsetting experience stripey had.

It's like the way NHS professionals justify over zealous intervention in births and the like. 'Huh! You should think yourself lucky. Other women have blood and this and that and blah blah blah'.