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.

several people have said their experiences differ and the appointment went ahead or they have received incorrect texts.

OP, I don't know why you asked this question seeing as nobody can really answer it and you are adament you are going anyway.

To the people asking why they sent your mum the text, it is a big boo boo, but this sort of thing does happen. Upon moving in with my then-boyfriend/now-husband we set up a joint account to pay rent and bills from and changed our correspondence address with the bank to our new address for all our accounts. A month later they sent my MIL my personal bank statement (at my boyfriend's old home address), a situation we only learned about when she called up my boyfriend to tell him I was in my overdraft!

It was a fuck up, but they do happen.

Hope you get seen OP

@Nextweektoo you can’t be referred for “private on the NHS”. You can receive NHS care in a private hospital facility as most private hospitals offer NHS clinics now, but you would still be an NHS patient with waiting times etc and private patients would be prioritised.

Just pick up the bloody phone and check with the department!? If it's not already too late, that is.

You will have the number on your appointment letter I would ring and check.
If you have the NHS app you can check on there for appointment updates.

I dont get why you're worried about work....nobody is indispensable, your health is more important

Sometimes MN is mad.

Problem: They accidently texted an old or emergency number
Solution: Call in the morning.

The end.

You really don't need to speak to PALS. Just ask them to amend. 🙄

If you got hit by a bus your work would go on. If you go blind how will you work? It takes time to learn to cope being blind. If work no longer needs you will they be saying let's keep her on she's always put us first?
Your attitude suggests your sight isn't as bad as your saying or your not accepting it.

Nope, they won't squeeze her in. The clinic may have been cancelled. Even if there is a clinic, her notes won't be there. No o e us going to get her notes from medical records and get the Dr to see her.

This. She comes across as massively entitled to me. Appointments get cancelled, just get the new date and arrange so that you can attend that. No one is so busy and important that they can’t get time off for a serious medical appointment

This about sums it up

The answer is simple. Pay to go private. A blind employee isn't going to be alot of use short term until you adjust, far better to get things sorted now. Pay privately go out of hours. Honestly dont mess about with your eyes get it sorted

oh and dont fool yourself that the employer will be great if you do lose your sight. They don't give two shiny fucks, you need to put yourself first

I agree with your philosophy, I would go in your shoes, OP, as long as you go in with low expectations and don't get your hopes up too high.

Tell them you were never informed, they may make an exception for you. I get texts for my mum sometimes as she's elderly, I don't always notice them as the surgery sends a lot of texts for both me and my mum and important things can get missed if I haven't made the appt for me or my mum myself and diarised it.

She's not massively entitled, she's a woman facing substantial degradation in her eyes and unsupportive employers.

Get some empathy or stay off her thread.

If the appointment has been cancelled then they are not going to fit you in if you still turn up. I understand how irritating it is to have an appointment cancelled - it's happened to me on more than one occasion over the years - but your eyesight has got to be more important than your job! No work can be so inflexible thst you can't attend an appointment for something as important as maintaining your sight. I don't see any point in contacting PALS for a cancelled appointment. If you are really not prepared to take time off work for the rearranged appointment then you will just have to go privately.

Yes appointments get cancelled but sometimes it's possible to be squeezed back in. I wasn't cancelling my holiday because my appointment had been changed and when I explained I was away I was seen at the original time. I'm not saying it will definitely happen but there's nothing 'entitled' about wanting to be seen at a convenient time.

Of course you can't turn up.

I had a letter cancelling my DD’s much awaited appointment for the next day. I was so unhappy as we’ve arranged everything to accommodate it. I called to reschedule as requested on the letter and they were able to reschedule it for the same day, one hour before the original time so cancellations, etc happen and if you don’t mind wasting your time if you can’t be seen then it’s worth turning up. Besides you didn’t get the text to your phone anyway

I think this is hilarious.

OP has such an important job that she can’t take off time for an appointment. Only ever booked in to see junior doctors although has such a rare eye condition. Is so concerned her eye condition will fail whilst abroad and be costly but isn’t covered under her private insurance.

And yet, has time to waste going to an appointment that has been cancelled.

Of course she can turn up, as long as she is fully aware that they may refuse to see her.

I think you have very little idea of the pressure employers can put on employees to always be available and you calling a situation that is clearly distressing to the OP 'hilarious' is vile.

OP you do understand that is the Clinic has been cancelled the Senior Consultant will not be there either. Even if they were Reception/Admin will not be able to add you to their list without you been seen by Junior Dr.

I certainly would ring the Clinic and double check that the appointment has been cancelled and the text is not some computer error.

An employer could pressure me all they want I'd still tell them tough, I'm going to an appointmennt to prevent me losing my eye sight!

Well I would go and be extremely nice to the staff

The one time I relied on a text cancellation I then got a letter saying I hadn't attended and all further appointments would be cancelled

I had to actually go in and show the text message to a shame faced receptionist and insist firmly on being re-added to clinic