To be really angry with my GP surgery?????

[mosschops30]

Last week I had a double appointment (20 minutes) booked for minor surgery (mole removal) at my GP surger.
I had worked 3 x 12hr shifts prior to this, had not looked in my diary, was completely knackered and missed the appointment.

As soon as I realised I rang the surgery and apologised for any inconvenience and explained the situation.

This morning I received a letter from them which states 'to simply not bother to turn up is unnacceptable and results in a complete waste of valuable doctor time'

I feel a bit pissed off at that given that I did ring and apologise, so do I just let it go over my head and AIBU?

I managed to get a Saturday appt with my own GP which made me do various dances for joy...

Arrived at the surgery and he was saying that I was the only one to show up all morning

Incredible.

My mom is a doctor ( in the US) and she charges. No one ever misses an appt as her receptionist gets a credit card on booking.

I haTE ALL THIS MY DOG DIED/THE HAMSTER THREW UP/MY COUSIN HAS A VERUCCA/ stuff.

Bloody turn up!!

YABU. How in the world is it your surgery's fault you didn't turn up? It isn't - it's entirely down to you and they are perfectly entitled to send you a letter pointing out the consequences of your non-attendance. Ringing to apologise is always appreciated - but it doesn't turn the clock back - and anyway you would have had to ring anyway wouldn't you - to get another appointment which they have doubtless made for you.

But drs run late all the time, I have been the only one in the waiting room (first appointment of the day even!) and I am still seen at least half an hour late very often!

IME, drs very rarely run only five minutes late.

How do other patients even know the time of other's appointments anyway?

I think it could work better on both sides - does no good to anybody to have drs etc doing nothing, and what's so hard about getting to an apopintment on time? (GOS actually asks patients to arrive 20 minutes early, I guess knowing that people will turn up late as sometimes life gets in the way!)

Can't believe the inefficiency....

DNAs are a very serious issue in the NHS because it wastes a huge amount of resources. It's one of the reasons why clinics often run late because it used to be the practice to book several people in for each slot as the likelihood was that some of them wouldn't turn up. The result was a very stop start sort of affair. I think the booking systems have subsequently changed because (not surprisingly people didn't like to be made to wait, and were probably consequently more likely not to turn up). The result is that DNAs are a big issue again, and when clinics can run at half capacity it really annoys everyone.

Another issue is that there can be set up time too, so for example for minor surgery everything would have to be laid out and ready prior to the appointment, so that time is also wasted.

Lots of effort has gone into trying to reduce DNAs, and this standard letter is just one of them, to remind patients that there are consequences to not turning up, and that it is a big PTA for all concerned. You are unreasonable to be "very angry", but no one likes being told off.

yes nooka it's scary when you add up the number of dnas from a month say (or a week on the scarily busy clinics) and realise that is a whole clinics worth of appointments lost.

I have had one of those letters. Don't worry, I didn't.

Besides, on many occasions I have had to wait an hour later than my origional appointment.

Just to point out to all those of you who have had to wait to see a doctor - only on a very, very few occasions will that have been because the doctor was out shopping, golfing or couldn't be arsed to get out of bed. The rest of the time it was because your doctor was caring for another patient - maybe another 20 patients. If the patient in front of you in the queue has a heart attack, breaks down in tears or struggles to understand what's going on then YOU will have to wait longer. Of course if it's YOU breaking down etc then you should get that extra time. At a hospital clinic the doctor will be coming from ward round, clinical meeting and many other worthy occupations. You are not kept waiting for fun - and having a wait one time does not justify you turning up late or not at all to get your own back. Too many patients, not enough time - is true of every doctor I know.

Well my sympathies do lie with them I'm afraid. Appointments are in short supply

My GP has a policy that you are only "allowed" to be ten minutes late, any later, and you have to rebook.

I guess that means they only sit around doing nothing 10 minutes each time there's a DNA....

How long do doctors generally "wait" for, is it till the next patient is due to be seen?

you know YABU ecause it was your fault you missed it. you did phone and apologise though.
what is supremely annoying is when you have been waiting 5 months for a consultant referral for you r child after being told it would be within 3 months. you don't ear anything at all from them until one day a letter arrives baratuing you for missing an appointment you never knew you had. followed by another one followed by one from your GP also barating you for missing an appointment. so you phone all the relevant people and explai you never had an appointment in the first place only to get another letter telling you off again.
bloody incompetant admin staff

My GP texts me the day before the appointment, the audiologist texts and rings, my specialist sends out a letter the week before.

I haven't received an email reminding me, but surely in a lot of cases, people don't turn up because they "forget", and surely there's the technology to "remind" people.

(Of course there's the personal responsiblity argument, but we're not machines and sometimes appointments are simply "forgotten" (like in my case)).

or in pp's case, people simply aren't aware they've got an appointment! (hence in some cases reminders in other formats).

Spelling!

I am religiously made to wait an hour later than my proposed appointment. Ok, I can handle that. But what pisses me off, if I arrive five minutes late the receptionist shakes her head, and moaning that the doc might not be able to see me!

By the way, some of us are not late for an appointment because we are being spray tanned, watching T.V or having nails done.
Some of us work, have kids to pick up etc.

"I haven't received an email reminding me, but surely in a lot of cases, people don't turn up because they "forget", and surely there's the technology to "remind" people"

I have absolutely no patience with this kind of argument. We are all grown ups for heavens sake

Nor this one:

"Some of us work, have kids to pick up etc"

... then make proper arrangements that you can keep to then!

Never realised before how strongly I feel about DNAs

I think that we have to cut the sob stories and be a little tougher on those who repeately miss medical appointments.

OK, circumstances like having a baby or being in a road accident are understandable reasons, but being tired and forgetful is just a lame excuse.

I would like to see people being fined, although you would have to have smaller fines for those on income support. Prehaps those on income support should pay £5 and other people should pay £30. I don't think it would be fair to fine someone elderly who might have dementia. There would have to a mechanism for appeal like a parking ticket has.

The more appointments misseed in a year should restort in bigger fines. Under the present system I think a lot of people take GPs and other health professionals for granted.

Its a standard letter - they even send them if you die and don't turn up......

Yes really not good for grieving relatives

Perhaps gp's should send the letters with a bit more thought.

Even more reach is when they turn up at the door to find out how the pateint is? Oh she died three months ago.

Some gp practices are badly run, they are the ones that shout the loudest about pateints being disorganised - fancy rant over

Important public announcement - if you have a death in the family please don't assume your GP will notify the hospital. They don't 9 times out of 10 and 3 months later some poor admin person has to have a bloody awful conversation with a distraught and furious relative with a lettr in their hand which is salt in the wound alright.

I would asume though that a gp would know if one of their patients was alive or dead after three month, when that patient was terminally ill.

To them though I suppose you are just a number?

Don't know what village your from Stepford, but in the city I live in, 5 Mins late is not called 'an improper arragement'.

No I don't know any doctor or other health professional to whom a patient is just a number!

I assume you are talking about a case you have been connected with and I'm sure it must have been an upsetting and bewildering experience. If the patient died in hospital then usual practice is for the consultant to write to the GP accordingly. If that doesn't happen and there is no reason for the patient's family to contact the GP then it is possible for them not to know. Not good that it took 3 months for them to follow up though!

To my knowledge both hospitals and GPs find out about quite a lot of deaths through newspaper announcements only.

That is the problem when gp's start sending "standard letters" you become just a number.

I would ask any gp's practice to think very carefully about "standard letters" it takes away person and individual contact please think how that person that recieves that letter will feel.

It is an upsetting and bewildering experiance for someone to die - made only more so by uncaring thoughtless actions.

It is unfair of me to tar the same brush and I really shouldn't - but at times it is hard not to.....

You have to have standard letters - you cannot expect the admin team to craft an individual reply to every patient! I the department I used to work in we would send out in the region of 500 letters a day!