To be pissed off with the NHS over being referred back to GP by hospital......

[ACautionaryTale]

So I've been on the waiting list to have the mirena removed by the hospital as the GP couldn't manage it. I've been waiting over 14 months - which is fine as its not urgent. I don't need it for contraception (DH had the snip) and I'm not planning on getting another one put in.

I got a letter through telling my my appointment was the 19th Feb. Except that I can't do that day. Im self employed and working on a critical project for a major company which goes live beginning of June.

If it goes well, I'm highly likely to get quite a lot of repeat business. We are talking enough to keep my income going for the next few years.

Wednesdays are the one key day of the week that its very visible if you are not around. It was planned that way so that people could have long weekends during the project as it was acknowledged that for anyone involved, taking a whole week would be difficult until end of June.

I phoned up to re-arrange my appointment and they offered me another Wednesday two weeks later. They only do this procedure on a Wednesday. I said this was not possible and could I just go on the list for some time after the end of June as I knew it was not urgent.

This is not possible as you can't delay over three months - if you do you get sent back to the consultant who sends you back to the GP and you have to go through the whole process again.

I feel like banging my head against a wall.

@ACautionaryTale YANBU, and I hope you get it sorted. As a few posters have said, you can't say ANYthing against the NHS on here; it's like they, and everyone who works for them are flawless Angels without wings who can't put a foot wrong EVER.

The NHS make MANY mistakes, and whilst they are great in many ways, people need to stop putting them on a pedestal.

My cousin's husband is currently having a course of treatment that involves going to the hospital every 5 or 6 weeks, and he does 4-on, 4-off shift work. Without fail, every single appointment he is offered is on one of his work days. He rings and changes it to a non-work day, and then a couple of weeks later, they cancel the appointment and change it to another day, that once again is a WORK day.

So he arranges an inconvenient appointment (fair enough, they never knew what shift he was on when they sent it,) then when the new convenient appointment is made, they cancel it EVERY TIME. And there is rarely a reason.

He doesn't get paid when he is off, his employer keeps getting arsey, (as he has lost 5 or 6 days already this past 7-8 months,) and 90% of the people who go there don't work, so can have appointments ANYtime virtually! But he can't, and they don't get why.

Buuuut he is not allowed to complain, because it's just not allowed. 'Be GRATEFUL you HAVE the NHS!' people crow. Like the OP, my cousin's DH has paid enough into it over the last 30 years! So has a right to moan without being shut down.

YANBU OP!

Not rtft, sorry, but YANBU it's ridiculous that you have waited 14 months to get a coil out?!!! I called my GP and it was out within a week. You can also make an appointment with a family planning clinic - my friend was seen within 2 weeks as she was exactly like you- couldn't see the GP due to childcare and work. 14 months is bloody ridiculous. Can you see family planning?

@Mistigri

It's such an inefficient system in many respects, both from the NHS POV (handling appointment rescheduling/cancellation) and for the patient. It would be much easier to give the patient a referral and then allow them to book an appointment themselves, rather than requiring them to attend a specific clinic on a day that isn't convenient.

This. They can't just assume that everyone^ is just free all the time. People have lives, jobs, children, and all manner of commitments. Giving someone access to a booking system on the internet, and letting them choose their appointment time and day would be MUCH better. You can do this for GP appointments, so why not hospital ones?

And another thing, every time my cousin's DH gets an appointment cancelled (AGAIN!) after he has changed the first (inconvenient) appointment, the letter always says 'missed appointments cost the NHS over £200 MILLION pounds a year!'

Yet they keep constantly changing appointments, when many people have probably made arrangements and got work shifts swapped/got childcare/arranged transport.

So they lose the argument really when they moan about patients 'missing appointments' when they keep cancelling and re-arranging them (as I said, often for no reason!)

UserV tbh I don't really understand why the NHS still works like this.

I live in France now and if I need a specialist appointment I get a letter from my doctor then use an app on my phone to find a specialist who has a free slot at a time convenient to me. There is no (inefficient and costly) negotiation between patient and medical secretaries to find a time that works. And usually I can get an appointment in less than a month.

They do let the patient choose first appointment - it's called choose and book been around for years.

They can't just let patients choose a day that suits as the consultants are job planned and not in clinic every day! They have ward rounds, teaching med students, procedure clinics. Majority of clinics are split by sub specialty so they can't just have a clinic every day that would be mad, and too much capacity!

In respiratory for example at my hospital, there are 3 consultants who yes between them there is a clinic every day, but depending on what you are referred for determines who you will see. If it's x reason that clinic might only run once a week or every other week because of the demand for that type of clinic and the availability of x machine and nurse to support.

Really short sighted to just say that patient to should be able to choose a day. Of course they can, but only on the day that that clinic runs, which is usually the same day each week.

Also everyone gets the letter about the cost of missed appointments because it's astronomical and patients should be aware of that.

Also @userv the reason they'll be cancelling and rearranging appointments is because of those people who miss or DNA their original appointments but are urgent and need to be seen so get fitted in somewhere which obviously displaced other patients.

If the contract is worth that much that you can't attend either appointment offered I would go private.

yes the french system works so much better - in fact most systems from abroad have a better system but the mere mention of a change to the nhs system immediately throws up the money issue. the nhs needs drastic change as it cannot cope in its present state. but who will be brave enough to come up with new ideas and ways of financing it.