NHS rule about being late?

[Ceci693]

So my son had a physio appointment at the local hospital yesterday - he’s been waiting about 12 weeks: he’s 17 so he went by himself - cycled down after school. He had 40 mins to get there. But he went in the wrong wntrance and anyway long story short he was 5 mins late. I believe him as he’s very exact about things! But receptionist wouldn’t let him through: she said if you were more than 1 minute late the appointment was cancelled . He tried to reason with her and explained he came
atraight from school etc but she was adamant and he had to leave. Is this a new thing in the nhs? Bearing in mind that appointments don’t run on time any time I’ve been called for one - which is fine of course. He was quite upset and now has to wait at least 4 weeks - the woman said he would hear something in 4 weeks. What do you think? Is it a thing? And I do believe him as he’s very responsible - and time conscious

I'm not aware of a rule, I've worked in the NHS for 35 years. It varies Trust to Trust.
Generally it's the done thing to wait 10 minutes before we mark someone as DNA (did not attend), our appointments are 25 minutes. If i was free and they were late I would always see them but explain they wouldn't have a full consultation as I would then keep the next person waiting.
Parking is shit, hospitals are hard to navigate, people are infirm, traffic, loads of reasons why you might be late.

Honestly the traffic is so heavy he was quicker on his bike

I'm livid on your behalf. When has anyone ever gone in to any NHS appointment on time? I always turn up at least ten minutes before the slot then I'm sat there with half a dozen others who all have the same time, so I actually go in half an hour later - if I'm lucky. This sounds like a power tripping receptionist and I bet she wouldn't have tried that with someone older.

I was once refused an appointment for being 'late' when they took 20 minutes to check me in.

I was stood in a very long line, arrived at least 5 minutes before appointment time and by the time the solo staff member had checked me in I had automatically been listen as a DNA.

My complaint to PALS went no where and back to end of the waiting list I went.

Ok fair enough if that’s the case.

I wonder if they would’ve treated your teen son the same way had he been a 30 year old man or a 50 year old woman who had been say struggling with parking and arrived a few minutes late? Not convinced they would’ve.

I’d probably give them a call.

This analogy is wrong because this particular train rarely leaves on time. In my experience of many hospitals appointments (including physio) you are rarely called exactly at your appointment time. Waiting at least 5 minutes is standard even if your appointment is at the beginning of the day.

I would complain in writing OP.

You're not commuted into London from where I live! The train is rarely on time but it doesn't wait the odd time it happens to be on time.

We give 10 mins (sexual health) as our appointments are 20 or 40 minutes depending on what they are for. Some people get annoyed, but I can’t safely do a full assessment, examination/procedure and treatment if I’m rushing, and it’s not fair to expect other patients to wait if they have arrived on time.

Any later than that, I will ask the patient to rebook or tell them they are welcome to wait and I will try and slot them in if someone else doesn’t turn up or if I finish another appointment sooner than the allotted time. However, if they are in pain, I will always try and make it work. It’s maddening when people stroll in late clutching a takeaway coffee, though 🤣

Five minutes wouldn’t even register as late for me and I’d just see them as normal. One minute is bonkers. I bet if the receptionist had asked the physio if they would see your DS, they would have agreed.

I'm with others - I work in the NHS and this is nonsense. They could have seen him for 5 minutes less and made better use of the appt time, for him and them. I would complain! And ask for a sooner appt while I'm doing it.

I have an appointment today at 12.03pm and have had texts, emails and NHS app alerts telling me if I am later than 12.03pm I won't be seen.
Makes me laugh as I've never been seen on time for any medical appointment.
Waited over 45 minutes one time, then spoke to reception who said we we had an emergency so you can't be seen. Understandable, but she didn't think it was important to tell me and had a right go at me when I asked why I wasn't told and just left sitting in the waiting room like a twat

I think the receptionist was on a power trip as your son was young and on his own. I can almost guarantee it wouldn’t have happened if you or his father was there with him.

I’m wondering if the physio dept was running so late that day that the receptionist ( wrongly ) decided to stop accepting patients. Was your son the last appointment of the day?

If I’m honest I’m also wondering what he was going there for after 12 weeks if he could cycle for 40 minutes to get there?
If he’s been in constant pain for that time I apologise for sounding flippant.

Either way it’s a lesson in being prepared. The appointment letter usually has instructions about which entrance you need to use, which car park is best and by the way, where was he putting the bicycle? 5 minutes on google maps and street view would have had him knowing where he needed to go.

We do this too at the hospital where I work but if people can’t be seen that day then we try to organise another appointment for them so that they have another slot planned but
if the clinics aren’t full and we have a gap we slot them in but they have to wait until that gap and afternoon clinics run 2-6pm so that may involve waiting.

1 minute is ridiculous if contact PALS and ask why this happened as the slot is usually 20-30 mins for physio so wouldn’t have made much difference.

I knew there would be at least one comment questioning why he needs physio if he can cycle for 40mins

OP I would definitely question if the one minute rule is a thing. I’d expect info like that to be in the appointment letter. I’d contact PALS for clarification.

It can be so varied with appointments.

my DD has a tonne of appointments and some departments give grace and some don’t.

I had one receptionist be really, really rude about us being 5 mins late and she said very loudly that I needed to “prioritise being on time for important appointments”. She did have the manners to apologise when I said we’d come from phlebotomy, who were running 20 mins late, and xray, who were running 40 mins late, so I thought we’d done quite well with appointment planning to be only 5 mins late.

Are you sure he was only 1 minute late? That sounds very precise. I work in the NHS and i know no where who would not let someone in for being 1 minute late. You can explore it but I would be prepared to find out 1 minute was not 1 minute. I would explore it though as you do sometimes have receptionists who are a bit police like, but 1 minute feels extreme.

I would be challenging this.

If he had been a professional looking adult who pushed back then that “rule” would not have existed. This receptionist was on a little power trip.

When my DC had Orthodontist appointments , if someone wasn't there , the receptionist would phone them. Unless they were at the point of walking through the door , they were a DNA.
They also only allowed after 3pm appoints for Yr 10/Yr11 , so if your child was younger , the parent had to arrange time off to accompany . And parking was rubbish as it was in town.

I work in NHS , we have a 10 minute late policy . But TBH , it is far more hassle for me to argue/reason ( we don't have Receptionist )
If someone is late and I was to say I wouldn't see them , the answer would always be "Well I'm always kept waiting"
It creates a nasty atmosphere
I will see someone then if they don't mention it , I'll say at the end "Now you know you were late today , a lot of my colleagues won't see you if you're 10 minutes late . I saw you but you won't get seen if you're late again"

We do have the repeat offenders though who are always late and come in with a "oh what am I like " attitude .

Taking the next one in only works if the next one is there !
If I am waiting for someone and the next patient is keen to nab there space , I will wait a bit . The patient might be bustin' a gut to get there . If they are pushed out of their time slot they might think " why should I bother "

And the ones who phone up to say they'll be late - It Does Not Stop Time

My thoughts too, that he was later than he has told his parent.

It's not respectful to expect staff to stay late all the time to treat people, its not respectful to make the patients after you late because you didn't turn up on time

Radiotherapy is different because you've got unwell, elderly patients often reliant on transport, but the majority of outpatient appointments its reasonable to turn up on time or at least call through if your stuck in traffic/lost

I had a CT scan when I was in hospital. I was told in the morning that the scan had been booked at at 9.45 and that porter would come to collect me at 11 to take me for the scan. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I expect it depends on the hospital. I would imagine most would have let him have the appointment but just made him wait if the patient before him had taken his appointment. He could then have taken that patients appointments. It's a ridiculous rule as anyone could easily be a minute late

What a stupid woman ... part of the problem with NHS, pay peanuts get monkeys

OP said he was 5 minutes late but the hospital's rule is they won't see people if they are more than 1 minute late

Doesn’t seem fair if he was 5 mins late for a 30 min appointment.
Having said that 5 mins early is on time.