WIBU to still show up to the hospital appointment?

[Cockapoosforlife]

I have a long term health condition which impacts my life considerably, with a sizeable impact on my vision. I have had a hospital appointment scheduled for a while to review the conditions impact on my eyes and to decide if surgery is necessary, this was to take place tomorrow morning. I have just had notice from my mother who I haven’t lived with for a while that this appointment has been cancelled.

WIBU to still attend as they did not inform me and this is the only time I can do the appointment for a long time?

For context I work in quite a high pressure field with my work scheduled far in advance (think 5 years). It also involves working across multiple countries and time zones, to reschedule would place substantial delays on projects. For the appointment to also not go ahead it poses a considerably high chance of total vision loss, as well as raising the risk of unplanned surgery.

Honestly this really isn't your problem though, stop making it more important than your health. Is the best outcome for you really that the project gets back on track while you lose your eyesight?

They can't work around your oh so important job
jeeze
they will have hundreds of patients
If you are that inflexible and your care so urgent you may need to go private

It’s a one day a week clinic, when I normally get there as the doctor who normally sees me ends up having to get a more senior member of staff due to the nature of the issue at the moment.

I cannot accommodate them as everything regarding my work has been booked and paid for. The clinic only runs one day a week and unfortunately it is the worst day for me to be run on.

How are you even managing to work if you're losing your eyesight?

So your job matters more to you than your sight?
okey doke

I am considering it believe me, this is the only portion that isn’t. The flexibility has become worse in the last 6 months.

You need proof it's been cancelled not just a mum text. They also need your new address and email so the letters come to you.

With great difficulty and it’s only one eye which is struggling. The surgery would be to re-correct and restore the vision.

i couldn’t believe her at first so I asked for the proof, unfortunately it’s looking genuine. I am trying to figure out why it went to her as they have my address and contact info.

Phone your consultant's secretary first thing in the morning
They are the best point of contact to start with

My instinct would be that eyesight is more important than any job. If your employer isn't supportive, they're not a good employer. I'd quit rather than potentially lose my vision.

And I can say that with experience, because I am permanently visually impaired and let me tell you, I'd do anything to get my eyesight back.

Call the hospital, get a new appointment, tell your employer you're going to it and they can deal with it.

It’s a once in a career project and has already taken two years from me. The worst case is I lose the eye sight in one eye, it will be liveable but can easily be corrected by surgery.

Could you phone your consultants secretary in the morning and see what's going on? You at least need to sort out the phone number mix up.

I don't understand why you haven't already phoned the hospital?!

OP - What's the condition and what op are you having?
It's going to depend on that whether it's worth you going in. For example, say you're having an appointment to discuss a corneal transplant, that will be fairly specialist and you'll quickly waste your time, if it's a cataract op, then you probably wouldn't be.

There is absolutely no point going, they will not and cannot accommodate you, hence the cancellation. It's unfortunate but you have to wait for a new one. You can call the team and try and book one to speed it up a bit as they might not send it for a couple more weeks. You can also ask to be considered if there's a cancellation by another patient if you can get there at short notice. But yeah, do not go to a cancelled appointment.

Their booking line was closed before the text message with the cancellation was sent. I tried to get through but there was nothing anyone could do.

Outcomes of surgery are never guaranteed though…

Did your mum just get the text this evening? How often do you go to the hospital for these appointments? So, if you’re away abroad for a few weeks, what difference will it make?

I’m so sorry you’ve experienced this but as pp have said it would be a monumental waste of yours time - and your employers time that you seem to be worried about - as you’ll just have to have another day off to attend. They really really won’t have cancelled you for no reason and it would have been with much reluctance (we are at the time of year where activity is really counted and necessary to meet targets, let alone considering the impact of cancellations and delays patients experience)

what I would do is:

1. call the booking team, or PALS if you can’t find the booking/access team’s number and explain your mother got the text and not you, check your details are correct on the system for you. (Your mother getting the text and not you is technically an IG breach presuming you are over 18 and compus mentus, but more importantly you just need them to have the correct details
2. ask if anyone can explain why you were cancelled (for your peace of mind) but from experience it will be due to illness/someone leaving unexpectedly/shortage/strikes/post strike impact (next strikes are booked for 24-28th Feb)
3. ask for an estimate of when you will be booked back in clinic, they should be either able to tell you when it’s likely to be or just book another appt there and then.

you get more flies with honey than with ….I forgot the saying actually - but be nice is where I’m going, you’ll get a better and quicker response if you’re polite and reasonable, but clear in your disappointment and the impact the cancellation has had one you.

if you aren’t given an estimated date to be seen or it’s miles in the future, ask that your case be reviewed by a consultant and given a P status (priority). You can also ask if you’re a breach (over 65 week wait from gp referral) and how they plan on preventing you from breaching at the end of March if you want to really make them twitch

disclaimer - NHS manager here!

It Is rare what I have so to specify would be outing. It’s related to previous surgery which was performed 8 years ago, I am now having long term issues from that which the surgery would help reduce permanent sight loss from those complications. It’s non-routine and something that medical papers typically cover, when I go to the department they always make me see a junior member of the team who upon learning what my history is always refers to a senior member of staff.

Maybe you should try a private appointment. Then you can organise around your hectic schedule and time zones.
The NHS won't be be juggling appointments to fit in with you.
If a Dr is off sick then the whole clinic will be cancelled. So you turning up hoping to be seen won't work
Try ringing the consultants secretary for info

You need to at least call the secretary tomorrow morning!

Some years ago I got a letter saying my appointment has been rescheduled for a different date only to receive another letter a few days later saying that I’ve been referred back to the GP as I was a no show for my original appointment. When I called reception they had record of any rescheduling and said it must have been a system error somewhere. So these things do happen.

Right.
So your appointment has been cancelled.
No point turning up as you won't be on the list.

Phone them up tomorrow and ask when a new appointment might be forthcoming.

Job done.

Your high level job description has no relevance to this scenario.

It does look a bit strange. How old are you? Do you have the same initials as your mum e.g you are both Ms M Smiths with you being Matilda and her being Molly ? Do you live together ? Is she under care of this clinic as well? How the text was worded?
I manage my DD’s appointments due to her disability so my mobile phone on both her and mine records. And a few times mishaps did happened so I would double check. I would go for an appointment tomorrow just to be sure, but if it was cancelled I would try to discuss my situation with them. Some times going in is easier to arrange an appointment. Otherwise you’ve got a letter with inconvenient date then need to contact them etc etc . Whereas being there you can do it in one go.
But you shouldn’t hope to get an appointment tomorrow, just go in case any mistake happened and be understanding of their situation. Maybe your consultant became ill just this morning, what can anyone do?