Just need a rant - delayed appointment!

[MsHedgehog]

I know it’s my hormones that make me cry about this...

My appointment with the midwife was at 10.50. I drove past the clinic at 10.42 as I looked for parking and saw a woman walking in.

I walked in at 10.50 and by the time I’m checked in and take my seat, it’s about 10.55. The woman who I saw walking in is sitting and starts complaining that she’s been there since 10.30 (clearly not true) and not seen yet. They asked her her appointment time, she said 1.30pm...

She said the midwife called her yday and asked her to come in earlier for her appointment. She didn’t say what time she was asked to come in, but come in earlier. They asked her if she can come back at her appointment time and she said she doesn’t want.

So as I’m about to be called in at 11am she kicks up a fuss about not being seen yet even though she’s early, lying that she’s been waiting since 10.30, and what do they do? Push my appointment back half an hour so she can be seen!

Looks like the moral of the story is act like a spoilt brat over not being seen right away, when you’re early for your appointment, and then expect everyone else to have their appointment pushed back because you took the “come in earlier” as three hours early!

If they asked her to come in at 10.30, I would get it, but she said she was never said a time - just that they asked her to come in earlier.

Rant over.

I'm a med sec. If the midwife asked her to come in earlier, I would think she had the last appt time and midwife wanted to make a quick getaway so hoped to get through the patients quickly. I would NEVER have made another patient wait to fit in a CF one turning up early. I work in private practice and we sometimes get this - people showing up an hour or two before their appt time. We always say we will try to fit them in and they are welcome to wait in case another patient is late or doesn't turn up (or go away and have a coffee). If any other patients come on time (or just a few mins late) for their own booked appt, the CF has to keep on waiting.

I think the blame is with the surgery/midwife. If they wanted her to come in earlier but not too early, they should have given a specific time. If it was inconvenient for you to be seen half an hour later, you should have made that perfectly clear. I'm surprised it ran over by that long though, if we're ignoring your own lateness. I assume it wasn't a booking in appointment, so shouldn't have taken more than 10-15 mins?

The midwife asked her to come in earlier. You don't know what time she said. You don't know who is at fault. You're very rude to call someone a spoilt brat when you only have half the story.

@Hayeahnobut - re-read my last sentence...she was never given a time, just told to come in earlier...

I also think it's rude to keep me waiting 55 minutes when they were ready for me at 11am because another patient threw a strop!

[quote MsHedgehog]@Hayeahnobut - re-read my last sentence...she was never given a time, just told to come in earlier...

I also think it's rude to keep me waiting 55 minutes when they were ready for me at 11am because another patient threw a strop![/quote]
55 minutes? I thought your appointment overran by 30 minutes (and you were 5 minutes late yourself).

If the midwife asked her to come in early, perhaps there was a good reason why the woman threw a strop - maybe she was expecting bad news and was upset. It probably could have been handled better by the clinic but there could be more going on than you know.

@Brumboo

My need for ranting was over, hence why I didn't update!

I wasn't 5 minutes late - I checked in at 10.50am, but by the time I did my urine sample and took my seat, it was 10.55am.

They gave my appointment slot to the other woman and took me off my midwife's list. Which meant I didn't even see the midwife I was meant to see (not fussed about this). So instead, they squeezed me into another midwife's list. She saw two women from her list before she finally called my name shortly after 11.45am, hence the long wait.

I didn't realise my appointment was delayed until after they called her in and told me to take a seat again, and then they came out to explain that they needed to push my appointment back. Even then it was only after I saw the midwife who told me that they removed me from the original midwife list and moved me to hers because a patient had come in early.

@rainbowbritesgreenfriend - As a PP mentioned, the midwife wanted to make a quick getaway. Not sure why but she needed to go home at lunchtime.