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Why do they do this?

C

chocoholic

Well-Known Member
Messages
831
Location
United Kingdom
Just taken a telephone call to say my appointment has been cancelled to see the specialist next Wednesday. They are 'hoping' to rearrange the whole clinic session to 29th April.
It's a bit annoying because I've had my blood tests done last week and my HbA1c will cover a month when my readings were all over the place and now things are settled again, that month extra for bloods would have made a big difference to the 3 month average.
Why are appointments so regularly moved and cancelled these days? I understand if a doctor is ill him/herself on the day but when you get no reason,it's somewhat annoying.
 
Hi Karen,

Surely you must have realised by now that we don't count!!
We are just the unfortunate customers that get in the way of all the administrators doing their jobs.
 
thats exactly why i changed to have my care at my gp surgery as all my hospital appointments were supposed to be 6 mnthly and ended up being more or less yearly, it is disgusting :?
 
Hi Dennis,
My name is Gill but I've been called Karen too (perhaps confusion with chocfish). Don't worry, I'll forgive you. :lol:
It's been one of those days.Aside the appointment cancellation, I had a bad hypo in the night (gawd knows why)and then since 7.00 a.m.I've been patiently trying to get Michael Jackson tickets. Given up now and refuse to pay over the odds for them on ebay.
Ho hum. Tomorrow is another day!
 
its not right but it can happen very unexpectetly.

In january I had to cancel a clinic as I had a sore throat - that caused chaos. Our practice nurse is off sick for a month and so that will set appointments back. There is usualy a reason - sickness, docs and nurses, study leave, hoildays - esp if clinics are booked sick months in advance . I really do not think any one likes cancelling appointments but it happens.
 
Hi Gill,

Sorry, I was convinced you were another Karen!
 
I suspect they overbook deliberately on the basis that some patients won't turn up. When they do, and when there is staff sickness for which they don't have cover, and they make a new appointment that means you are taken off the original waiting list and put on a new one. How convenient!
 
My husband has a theory. New to our area is a system whereby a few days before an appointment, patients get an automated call. Press this button to confirm name, that button etc. Well, last time I did not complete the call, as it asked me to key in my date of birth and as I did not know if the call was genuine, I phoned the hosptial the next day. It was a genuine call but I told the woman on the phone in these days of high identity fraud, there is no way I would ever tap in my date of birth to an automated message but my main reason for phoning was to confirm my attending the appointment, as I presumed that was the point of the automated message. She said there was no need as the automated message was just a reminder and the fact I didn't tap in info required would not affect my appointment. Well, this time, when I got the automated call, again I had no intention of tapping in date of birth and THIS is where hubby's therory comes in. He reckons because I didn't, it has cost me my appointment on Wednesday.I shall phone the hospital tomorrow to check but I find it unbelievable that this new system expects intelligent people to give out birth details willy-nilly on the phone.
 
I would have thought a message telling you the date and time of the appointment with a press 1 for attending 2 for not attending or 3 if you're not the patient was sufficient
 
My wife had a dental abscess starting end of 2007. As a heart patient, the dentist referred her to hospital. She saw the hospital dentist in March who made the treatment appt for April. The hospital cancelled the appt & promised to rearrange it. They offered September.

There is a limit to the effectiveness of antibiotics & pin-killers. Our Dr forced Ann's way into the hospital in June, so she finally got the abscess drained in June - the day after her 70th birthday.

Now antibiotics disagree with her, 'cos she had too many last year.
 
They pulled a cracker on mother, gave her two simultaneous appointments at two different hospitals 50 miles apart. That got her off two waiting lists while only "wasting" one consultant's time.
 
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