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Wasted appointments

donnellysdogs

Master
Messages
13,233
Location
Northampton
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
People that can't listen to other people's opinions.
People that can't say sorry.
Please can I just aak everybody that if you have gp or hospital appointments to make sure you attend or cancel them.

Yesterday (sunday) I had anappointment at hospital for tests to be done. I arrived early. The two patients before me did not arrive or cancel their appointments.

That absolutely appalled me... 2 out of 3 appointments wasted, especially on a Sunday when the vast majority of people are actually off work.

This morning I was talking to my pain management consultant and she said that 50% of her patients do not arrive and do not cancel...

What is wrong (or not!!??) that people go all to the bother of wasting gp's times to get appts at hospital and then dont go..

Think of all the money wasted that could be spent on pumps for T1's etc if patients behaved better.

I was disgusted totally. Do all these people magically get better? What about people with diabetes that have trouble getting on to a dafne course... This is so unfair of the public...

Rant over....




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I bet they're the first to moan when they can't get another appt as well !
 
Yes it is appalling and very rude. It isn't always the patient's fault though. My son waited for an appointment and asked the hospital why he hadn't been sent one. They said they had sent him one and he had missed it. He told them he hadn't received it and asked for another to be made. They said Yes, but couldn't give him the time there and then, they would post it out. He pleaded for them to just make one for him while he was there, as the second one might go astray too, but they wouldn't.

Also I had a card for a hospital appointment and turned up 10 minutes early, only to be told I was 50 minutes late! I showed them the card, but was given no apology.

Both of these instances would have been recorded as 'DNA's' . but both were the fault of hospital admin, not the patient.
 
It's common sense to ring up and cancel an appointment if you can't make it, they'll always be an emergency situations where you can't attend but at the very least you could ring them up later and apologise.
 
The best one I had was I had a doctors and hospital appointment with in an hour of each other, I rang the doctors to cancel the appointment there and got told I wasn't allowed to cancel this early and I should get back in time, and I I couldn't ring a bit later so got held up in the hospital, rang and got told this would go down as a DNA


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Charming.

The one clinic that often has delays is the Ophthalmology clinic, sometimes you can be in and out in 30 mins and other times it can be 2 hours, emergency admissions always come first so it's understandable if there's delays.
 
I have just remembered another time when I was recorded as a DNA. I was pregnant and due to have a scan at 30 weeks on Nov 3rd. I went into premature labour on the evening of 31st October and had an emergency caesarean. On Sunday 2nd, I remembered the scan appointment and asked for the staff of the ward where I was, to inform the unit that dealt with the scans that I wouldn't be arriving for my appointment. They said the would. They didn't bother. I got a nasty letter (from the same hospital) about wasting appointment times, with another date, which I had to cancel.

The only time when I have actually missed an appointment was at my GP's surgery. I forgot an appointment to take my son to asthma clinic. At the time my mind was all over the place because both my parents had died the previous month and I was walking round like a zombie, unable to concentrate on anything much. Sometimes life hits you and you forget to do what you normally would do if life was fine.
 
My appt was to have an emg done on my legs. Each appt was 30 mins so thats the reception and drs time x 2 appts -an hours pay wasted on these two people on a Sunday.. I'm sure they would rather be at home!!!

The Patients Participation Group at my GP practice have all wanted the Patients to be charged for non cancelled appts and wasted time. At 133 appointments a month on average ..and each appt being charged a supposed £10 for non cancelling... That would pay for a type 1 diabetic parient to have a pump every 3 months ... And thats just our practice!!!

If dentists can charge for DNA's why cant GP's and hospitals?


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Yes, I expect very many would remember to turn up for appointments. Perhaps this would be a good idea.... as long as they listen when you genuinely havn't received the letter advising you that you have an appointment. A few months ago my son received one for a visit to a bowel clinic. This had been sent to the wrong person and caused him much distress. It was for a few days time. I doubt that the real patient would have received notification of the appointment in time to get time off work to go to it.
 
Gosh, that wld be distressing!!

There's bound to be mess up at hospitals, there has to be a better way than is current...


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Yes I agree, there has to be a better way. I suppose my objection to this is based on the fact that generally I am one of the good guys, and in the case of doctors/hospital appointments I have been more 'sinned against' than 'sinning'....When systems are tightened up, I usually find that it is me, and people like me who get 'caught out' and have to pay fines, and the real problem people with a 'don't care' attitude get away with it.
 
Oh I so agree... I too would be somebody that would get caught out wrongly with a DNA fine!!
I cant remember if I have ever actually missed an appointment in 50 years... I dont think I have... But my luck would also be that I got inadvertently had. Perhaps I will write to the Parties and ask one of them to put it in their election manifestos to assist the NHS. I would gladly hand out the fines to DNA's...


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I have recently not turned up for a clinic appt as I had put the wrong date nd day on my calander. I had a re-arranged appointment come through but had to ring to change the time as it wasn't convenient. The receptionist informed me that doing that I will be referred back to my gp as I had missed 1 appt and cancelled (changed the time) 2!!!!!
 
I can see this opening up a huge can of worms, and yes I have forgotten appointments and gotten dates wrong and times wrong, okay if it's my fault fair enough but knowing my doctors surgery they would give you a DNA for no reason as I have had letters turn up the day after appointments as well


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Do any diabetics on here use on line appointment systems with their GP's? They are very good.

Also, our hospital texts you for all appointments- so how can anybody fail to cancel or forget a hospital appointment?


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Goodness me, the texts to me are brilliant reminders, and they would certainly be a reminder to cancel.. That's why I can't understand yesterday on a Sunday why I was the only person out of 3 patients to arrive.

It really is a postcode lottery as to how NHS hospitals do things isn't it..how an some text and others not?


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I can't ever see us getting a text service they are to interested in saving money, my partner was admitted in to hospital last Wednesday, and after a 20 hour stay on a&e they finally made room for her, and we were told that the CEO of the hospital is earning £180000 per year and she got a bonus this year for saving money and how did she do this she shut 2 wards down in the hospital and we are having a down graded a&e as well


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There was a C4 documentary about 2 years ago that focussed on young teens living with type 1 diabetes, they interviewed the staff in a diabetes clinic in London and they said almost half don't turn up for appointments, although I never took my diabetes seriously as a teen I always took my insulin and turned up for appointments......even if I didn't listen much to what they were saying
 
Whenever I attend the Drs they always have a note pop up on the TV Monitor that approximately 300-350 appointments a month are missed - that's in two Dr's surgeries. It is unbelievable and very annoying - especially when it takes so long to actually get an appointment these days.

I get text messages for all my appointments now apart from hospital ones - about time they updated the process.
 
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