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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

NHS

110 replies

ginislife · 15/07/2021 14:25

I've calmed down now but was absolutely bloody fuming this morning. My 18 year old has had an appointment booked for months for today at 10.30 to see what i possibly assumed was a consultant. We live an hour from the hospital. We were 5 minutes from the hospital and 22 minutes from his appointment time when they rang up and cancelled it. During the call it turned out it was with a nurse and she'd not turned up for work so the entire clinic was cancelled. I'd taken a day off and booked childs theory driving test for the same day in the same town so a waste of time going home to go back again. I'm self employed so already losing a days pay. I can't believe they didn't know earlier than 10.08 am that they were cancelling !! And now I'm cross again !! 😂

OP posts:

Laiste · 15/07/2021 14:28

YANBU

That's pretty shit.

Cheerio21 · 15/07/2021 14:30

Yeah I'd be pissed off too.

MoreAloneTime · 15/07/2021 14:31

That's really poor. They moan about all the appointments not attended but patients are messed about too.

Laiste · 15/07/2021 14:32

What did they say about rescheduling it?

Book any slot - BUT It has to be between 5 o'clock pm and 3 minutes past on any day as it's the first Monday in a month with an a in it?

Carycy · 15/07/2021 14:34

Not sure what they could have done. She didn’t turn up for work. Possibly it took a while to realise she definitely wasn’t going to make it.
Health professionals are occasionally off work just like anyone else. Sometime unexpectedly. Who knows what could have happened. Family emergency, car accident, burnout.

LIZS · 15/07/2021 14:35

Annoying. They probably did know earlier but had to try to call all those with times before you first.

Dd has had eye appointments over the phone - her one in March was supposed to be 9:15, she rang at 11:45 but could not get through then found a message left while she was on the call telling her that they had called and would make another phone appointment for a few months' time. That appointment was postponed twice, eventually rang last week, she told them she had occasional pain and now they have made a face to face on for October. After she has gone back to uni!

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 15/07/2021 15:07

@Carycy

Not sure what they could have done. She didn’t turn up for work. Possibly it took a while to realise she definitely wasn’t going to make it. Health professionals are occasionally off work just like anyone else. Sometime unexpectedly. Who knows what could have happened. Family emergency, car accident, burnout.

So why aren't health professionals more understanding about people being late for their appointments?!?

Carycy · 15/07/2021 17:07

Are you serious pinksparklypusscat?

Because we normally have a massive list of patients to get through. And one late patient puts everybody else back.

Most health professionals in clinics are overbooked and rarely get a break.
Seriously get a grip and take some responsibility for yourself. Give yourself enough time to get to your appointment. I had a list the other day and almost every patient waltzed in 5 min late for their appointment. And no I didn’t say anything. But if you are more than 20 min late, sorry I am not seeing you. You have missed your slot. I am not making every other patient late.

Original poster

ginislife · 15/07/2021 17:07

@Carycy I cannot believe that they don't have more than one nurse in the department. It's totally unacceptable to cancel like they did.

OP posts:

Carycy · 15/07/2021 17:10

I don’t know what it was for but I presume she was a specialist. It isn’t as simple as that. I am one of only two people in the hospital that do what I do. Many people just can’t be replaced at the last second.
It sucks but unfortunately that is the way it goes sometimes.

FawnFrenchieMum · 15/07/2021 17:11

[quote ginislife]@Carycy I cannot believe that they don't have more than one nurse in the department. It's totally unacceptable to cancel like they did. [/quote]
They probably do have more then one nurse but who also has a days worth of appointments booked or a ward full of patients to look after.
They don’t have random spare nurses sat around doing nothing.

It’s shit, I’d be upset and annoyed but ultimately shit happens.

traintraveller · 15/07/2021 17:42

IME cancelling patients is a last resort and they would have tried all other avenues before phoning patients.

Grainjar · 15/07/2021 17:45

Drs and nurses get ill sometimes and the job is not one you can turn up and wing it with. These things happen.

Shadedog · 15/07/2021 17:49

It’s annoying but I’m not sure what you can do about it and it’s not anyone’s fault. My hospital has cancelled several routine operations this week due to staff shortages, the main reason is COVID isolation or childcare due to COVID isolation. My department is running below safe levels but we don’t have anyone off sick, just had people leave and can’t replace them.

FawnFrenchieMum · 15/07/2021 17:55

I’m in hospital with my daughter this week, some wards have been merged together to manage on reduced staff.
Some children on the admissions ward were sent home as their surgery was cancelled.
We have gone to a totally different ward to the one planned and where we have been before but as I said earlier. Shit happens, they are doing their best with what they have.

ShitPoetryClub · 15/07/2021 17:57

It was on the news earlier that a car factory has had to close as so many staff off with covid or isolating. It's the third wave innit.
The nurse is probably extremely specialised and would be difficult to just replace.
It's awful but I don't see what else they could do.
Did he pass the theory test?

baldafrique · 15/07/2021 18:00

Presumably the clinician was unwell or had an emergency, so not sure how this could have been avoided really? It sucks but that's life.

baldafrique · 15/07/2021 18:02

One of our team was in a car accident on the way to work this week so it took a while for work to be informed and then for her patients to be cancelled. Specialist role so noone else able to see her patient list sadly.

Taliskerskye · 15/07/2021 18:07

You literally have no idea what happened to the nurse.
Shit happens.

Nengineer · 15/07/2021 18:33

I donr get the NHS. I have been away for 20 years. Yesterday I finally plucked up the courage to have a smear which is a massive thing for me. I booked in with a consultant and got it done. I paid 80 pounds for the consultation smear and HPV test is free under our NHS. I can claim off my insurance if I want but seriously, a UKGP would have refused to refer or been unsympathetic and would have ended up with a crappy nurse doing it. Last week I was really suffering from allergies. I went to my ENT, no referral needed and paid 30 pounds for the consult and an endoscopy. The rest of the world is so far ahead. Yes I live in a rich country now but have used NHS and private in India, Bangladesh, west Africa and Europe and always been able to choose.

Nengineer · 15/07/2021 18:37

@Carycy

Not sure what they could have done. She didn’t turn up for work. Possibly it took a while to realise she definitely wasn’t going to make it. Health professionals are occasionally off work just like anyone else. Sometime unexpectedly. Who knows what could have happened. Family emergency, car accident, burnout.

They could have doctors stand in for the woefulservice offered.

Chocolatebuttercream · 15/07/2021 18:37

@Nengineer you can choose here too. You've paid private for your smear, you could here too.

AnnaSW1 · 15/07/2021 18:41

It's disappointing but people get ill. I can't say it would get me fuming.

Nengineer · 15/07/2021 18:42

It's not that easy. You generally need a referral and sneery NHS GPs don't want to refer. My point is that I never wait more than a day for an appointment with a specialist, I don't have to beg a GP to refer me for a 6 month wait. Our clinics are in shopping malls, you just walk in and see the specialist without an angry gatekeeper. Example. My sister in law went to her GP 15 times in 3 years and begged for help with her heavy bleeding. Finally we paid for a second opinion and she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and died within the month.

baldafrique · 15/07/2021 18:42

And it could have been worse than illness even

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