NHS. Why do they do this?

[bestbefore]

I asked GP ages ago for a dexa scan.
She did the referral
I didn't hear for awhile so checked & was told to be patient - fair enough
This week I get a text for an appointment- no mention of what it was for but I guessed dexa. It's for a date next week that I can't do. I can text to cancel, which I do.
I then get another text which says a new appointment will be set for me and if I can't make 2 more appointments my details will be removed from the system.
I then get the letter, 2 days later, with details of the scan.
There's a number on the letter to call re appointment so I call and explain I've cancelled and could I rearrange? No I'm told they will schedule it for me.

This is ridiculous isn't it? Why is it so crap? Why isn't there an online thingy where you can book it with say a code from the gp? I know that costs money but so does silly letters and people answering the phone but unable to do anything!

Yea I don't understand why the NHS still insists on letters and text messages don't say what the appointment is for.
My son saw his Gp about something and was referred to the hospital. Waited ages, got the letter to go to X department. He took the day off but when he got there was told no one was in so appointment had been cancelled (though no one texted him). So lost a days wages then had to wait again. Nothing so chased up with GP and eventually gets another letter. Goes in thinking they will finally take care of it - nope it was just to talk about it and he has to wait for another letter. Three months later he is still waiting.
I also couldn't make my last mammogram. When I called to cancel I asked to rearrange for six weeks time. She said they couldn't book that far ahead (huh? I've actually got one appointment for a YEAR from now for something else) and to wait for an appointment letter. No letter has come (now almost ten months later).
I know it's complicated. I know a lot of people miss appointments. But booking people in without asking if they are available is surely not going to make it easy? And if someone actually calls to rearrange why can't they book it?
And finally, why are the calls (if one is so lucky to get them) 'PRIVATE NUMBER'. I don't answer those calls.

You really want the governmeet to waste more billions on a new IT system that would likely not work correctly and get hacked by china or russia?

They shouldn’t really let people cancel imho, if it’s not important enough to you to attend then you are wasting NHS resources.

In fact it would also be best if they charged you a deposit of say £50 in advance for the appointment and if you attended you get it refunded - but of course that would mean a new computer system wasting more billions that wouldn’t work and could get hacked by china or russia.

@GatesOfBabylon that's ludicrous. Imagine the impact on productivity if it's impossible to reschedule or cancel ab appointment you've been given a week's notice for.

My antenatal appointment texts all say what they're for and I've been able to rearrange where necessary so the capability exists. Perfectly sensible use of resources

They shouldn’t really let people cancel imho, if it’s not important enough to you to attend then you are wasting NHS resources.

Should I have cancelled my holiday, the first holiday in a few years due to ill health, to attend an NHS appointment which has easily been rearranged?

I've never had a letter that doesn't say what the appointment is for?

The texts won't say what the appointment js for because of patient confidentiality.

You can't just have an online thing because most referrals have to be vetted and triaged, so you'd get a letter I suppose with now you can book online, but appointments are sparse. And how does that work with urgent/2ww? How do you create a system that ensure the correct person lines up with the correct booking system for all the 1000 different types of appointment in the NHS?
There's so many different types of appointment, lengths of appointment within a clinic alone, let alone across the whole hospital.

People think sorting the NHS is easy. But it's massively complex. I don't think there's a simple solution to make the appointment system more efficient

I get that.

But once you get your appointment letter (so you're actively in the system) there should be a number you can ring if you need to reschedule and be able to sort it out on the phone. Yes, that takes admin staff time, but its way better than the cost of missed appointments.

Because no matter how much you want to prioritise your appointment, if it falls in the middle of a holiday, on the date of an important exam or a funeral, or the thousands of other important things, you have a headache, and one that's not easy to solve.

I'm of course talking about appointments that are classed as routine, and for which you can be waiting weeks or months for. Not the 2WW type where the world really does turn upside-down and everything else stops.

You mean they already wasted billions on the current IT system?

Now it all makes sense.

What you’ve described is an eReferral. 100% of GO referrals to hospital should be an eReferral. Unfortunately that’s not the case as some hospitals have stupid exclusions. But I’d be shocked if a dexa scan was one of them. Whatever trust it is sounds archaic AF but I assure you there’s a national system setup to do exactly what you think.

GP referrals*

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/hospitals/book-an-appointment/

Every problem that @StrugglingWeight mentions is accounted for and works fine in the system. Every clinic is on there, they’re easy to find, 2WW and urgent are accounted for. Some trusts initially had 2WW as an exclusion but realised the system was fast and robust so a lot are on there now too.

Sorry the text didn't say what the appointment was for but the letter did. But it arrived 2 days after the text. And the whole thing was ages after I'd asked the GP.
And I have the NHS and nothing is showing in there under Hospital Appointments so - yes - as some of you said it should be possible for some trusts/ some departments.

I know spending on an IT system would be ££££ but this is surely a classic example of a waste of money. If they are writing a letter and sending a text surely a phone call first and then a follow up email or letter would be better. I had one weeks notice for the appointment and am out of the country when it's scheduled for.

"If it's not important enough for you to attend"?? So people shouldn't have any other urgent tasks? Just as an example, recently I had a hospital appointment sent to me for the same day/time as my son's EHCP assessment meeting - five professionals from various places, and it's desperately important to get it done. Would be horribly complicated to reschedule, and would probably delay it by a month at least. But my hospital appointment is also desperately important. Do I not deserve my hospital appointment because clearly it's not that imports to me if I don't attend??

My Gp referred me for my dexa scan 3 weeks ago, the appointment letter arrived a few days ago, I needed to rearrange it so I rang and they offered me another date. All very swift and smooth.

Of course the ability to cancel and reschedule is important.

Should have cancelled my Dad's funeral because it happened to fall on the day of a hospital appointment?

More recently, I had an appointment very early in the morning, but as I would have had to have got there by public transport, which did not start running early enough, it was clear that I wouldn't be able to make it. I needed to reschedule that too, or do you really perhaps think that I should have spent the whole of the previous night either on a park bench outside or on the corridor floor?

Seriously, think before posting such bollocks.

It's ridiculous. I was referred for a procure, not life threatening but significant quality of life impact. Only they won't do it at the hospital it's a treatment centre 45 miles away, and you need transport there and back, you can't be released without someone picking you up and the only appointments are exactly at school drop off and pick up times, the appointments are allocated and they wouldn't schedule for a week in the summer holidays I could have done it.

The capability to do it is there, it would save time and money to modernise and standardise.

Meant to say "should I have cancelled my Dad's funeral because it fell on the same day as a gynaecology appointment?"

Well, quite. Or cancelled your own wedding (or someone else's if you happen to be a minister or registrar), or come off the West-End stage mid-performance, or explain to the Judge why you can't attend your jury service mid-trial, or explain to the Head that your pupils will have to go on their school trip to France without you, or any other of the innumerable reasons why that particular date and time is unsuitable for you and needs to be rearranged.

There has to be some more practical and logical way of booking or rearranging medical appointments without leaving it entirely in the hands of a computer.

I'm going to try and rearrange an appointment for dd for an ADHD assessment that she has been told is unmoveable and will be discharged if she can't make it.

It's taken since Septemberand numerous GP appointments to get the referral. Shes at uni 125 miles away and came home today. The appointment is for in 2 weeks. Tomorrow she had to be out of her uni accommodation. DH can't get time off work to take her. I can't take her because I has ds at primary school and no one else to have him. Public transport is a train from a city 40 mins away, we can possibly do that but it will cost around £100 return plus taxi from train station. We just want to have the appointment for September when she is back at uni.

She was told this morning that if she cancelsz there is no way to rearrange and she will just get discharged. So more GP appointments, another referral that may well fall over Christmas for instance. It is ridiculous and an absolute waste of NHS resources and tax payers money.

That's crazy GatesOfBabylon. Of course sometimes people need to cancel or reschedule appointments.

For complex conditions you can be under the care of several different departments, often in different locations that don't speak to each other. And sometimes you need test x before appointment y, but appointment y is scheduled before test x. Are you saying patients should just turn up for appointment y and waste everyone's time, instead of saying x is scheduled for this date, can I please have appointment y after that date?

I don’t really mind just being given an appointment. It’s for my health so I’d always prioritise above other things and make the time to go.

Whenever I'm referred by GP, GP always notes I'm happy to take short-notice appointments at any location within the substantial area our Trust covers.

The advantage of this is you receive a call from the list administrators asking about your availability - no texts, no guessing etc.

Most recently, I was at GP on the Thursday and received a call on the Monday offering an appointment for the Wednesday, which I (obviously) accepted. They emailed me the details of the appointment along with preparation instructions and procedure details - what to expect etc.

Fair enough, the appointment was at a less than ideal time 9:00 am - rush hour travel, and it was also at a location quite some distance from my home in an area with which I'm not particularly familiar. But, hey-ho, I felt it was important and made arrangements as needed to attend.

I'm guessing the appointment became available due to someone cancelling due to the 9:00am timeslot? Transport? School run?

I'd strongly suggest to anyone who has flexibility in their ability to respond to a short-notice appointment to ensure their referral includes that information.

You'd cancel a long awaited holiday, or rearrange a close family member's funeral, cancel your wedding, cancel a child's christening etc to attend an NHS appointment?

Or, would you expect to be able to rearrange your NHS appointment with relative ease?

The current system is absolute shit.

We had to call multiple departments at least three times to update DSS address. They kept sending his referral letters to not his last address, but the one prior to that! Some random woman opened his mail and posted on social media

He also had his surgical assessment appointment cancelled. Yet no one bothered telling us until we got there, so he was pulled out of school for no reason. Could we arrange another date? No. Still waiting. It's been months.

Over three days, I have had to visit three hospitals (because of working away) for a new and slightly scary condition, One Minor Injuries, two A and E and one in a ward (unexpectedly overnight under specialist care). I have to say that each hospital was efficient, clean and patient focussed. The staff (each and all: reception, cleaners, HCA, nurses and Drs) were fantastic; in fact, more than fantastic. Thank you sooooo much to everyone who works in our NHS........................ and ** to NHS bashers

When I get a dexa scan date, they only let me cancel and then I have to wait for another date to come through.
It's at the other end of another county so I have to book a full day off.