There is little that frustrates me more than wasting time. I’m not going to claim to be the busiest person in the world – everyone is busy these days and has much on their plates. But I am the scheduling Queen – it’s the only way I manage to hold down a job and a life. Most other people I know are in the same boat; I claim no superpowers here.
But when I have a day that is scheduled to fit in as much as possible, I am beyond frustrated to have walked into a medical appointment to be told nonchalantly that my doctor is running an hour behind. One hour. Sixty minutes. At my scheduled time, he is three patients behind.
So, personal responsibility – I should have called to see if there was a delay. But where is the responsibility of the doctor/admin team at the surgery? If a doctor is running three patients behind schedule, surely a text message or phone call to let me know wouldn’t be too difficult.
This is part of the attitude of medical professionals that I don’t understand. I get that I will need to wait – I factor that into the scheduling – but an hour is not okay. There is an arrogance that suggests their time is far more valuable than mine.
If I was running late to this appointment – even just a couple of minutes – I would have called the doctor’s rooms to let them know.
I don’t know of any other situation where there is an assumption that it will be okay for a person using a service of any kind to just have to wait.
I will let the doctor know that I think their system needs to be considered, and that whilst I understand that waiting in a waiting room (yep – they got the naming if this one right!) is to be expected, an hour long (actually, now looking to be an hour and fifteen minutes) showing some courtesy for the paying customer (yep – that’s what I am here) would be greatly appreciated.
I have now rejigged the rest of my day’s appointments so I don’t keep anyone waiting for me. Because that would be rude.
Okay – am I just being grumpy or do I had a valid point here? Has anyone found a solution to this? Others’ experiences greatly appreciated!
Diabetogenic 
9 comments
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May 5, 2014 at 1:31 pm
Ashley
I agree! I hate waiting, I have a million other things I could be doing rather than waiting idly in a room with outdated magazines. Once, I waited for 2 hours because the admin ladies left my file in the wrong spot. The doctors didn’t even realise I was even there! It’s definitely not good enough.
Basic courtesy of letting patients know that there is a delay would be nice. It would allow me to go grab a coffee or something. I’ve never called up to check on waiting times, because I’m usually in a rush and don’t have the time to. But I do schedule waiting for appointments in my day.
I usually try and get the first appointment of the day, no matter how early it is, if it means I don’t have to wait. And if the first appointment of the day is running late, I will be a grumpy cat.
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May 5, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Glen
You have a very valid point which I whole heartedly agree with. A phone call to 2-3 people saying sorry but there are delays does not take much time at all and is basically just common courtesy and respect for us as you put it the customer.
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May 5, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Dan
Why not bring a good book, a laptop, an iPad, do some work, catch up on email, text a friend, pop out to the shops. We run late because medicine and disease does not fit comfortably into 10-15 minute slots. Some patients need more time, some need less, some are in crisis, some are routine, but everyone gets what they need when then need it, so everybody wins in the long run. I routinely run between 20-90 minutes late. I apologise to anyone who is kept waiting, but I hope they understand that I am not just sitting out the back twiddling my fingers to make them wait. Could GP surgeries do more to inform patients about delays? I suppose so, but I know that a delay can appear or evaporate in minutes, so it’s not always practical to judge timing with any accuracy. I tell anyone who complains that I’ll get up an hour earlier in future, and they should turn up an hour late for their appointment, then everything will run smoothly next time.
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May 6, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Glen
It is not the fact that appointments run over the alotted time-frame that is the issue. I and I am sure most other people understand that each patient is different to the next and accept some will require more time, one day it will be me that needs the extra time. When the delays are getting to the hour mark(or 90 minutes) they are not likely to ‘evaporate’ in minutes so a call to the next few patients takes into account that the world does not stop and wait because a doctor is running late. Other things may have been scheduled and a call would give us a chance to make arrangements and cater for the delay. That is the issue. If received a comment from a doctor about them getting up earlier and me arriving later I’d be looking at making my appointments elsewhere to avoid annoying them again.
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May 6, 2014 at 9:57 pm
RenzaS
Actually, I think that if I showed up an hour late to my GP without a call, I’d have missed my appointment, have to pay the no-show fee and then pre-pay for my next appointment.
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May 5, 2014 at 10:18 pm
Andrea
If you can write a whole blog post during the wait time, it is definitely too long!! š I agree with you 100%. I have left doctors before when the wait times were just too long on a consistant basis. A one time emergency situation is one thing – and even then, they could have the decency to let you know. But consistant wait times of 1-2 hours is insulting. It is saying that unlike the doctor’s time, my time is not important.
When I was seeing my Endo every 2-3 weeks during pregnancy I’d book the last apt of the day and call ahead to know how far behind he was. My regular appointment time would have had me leaving work over an hour early each time but this way I didn’t have to take time off. I could only do this though because I was going so often and knew the office staff well. You shouldn’t have to be a “privileged patient” to be respected!
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May 6, 2014 at 4:09 am
Rosie Walker
a very interesting discussion and perspectives. Thanks for raising what I think is the main issue, Renza, and that is whether everyone’s time is considered equally valuable. If it is, there will be acknowledgement, explanation and apology for people who are waiting and effort made to try to address the situation, invite suggestions or comment on how things could be improved. That goes a long way to mutual understanding. It’s when no courtesy at all is extended and the practitioners’ time is seen as most important that things go wrong, in my view.
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May 6, 2014 at 4:28 pm
Joanne
I think if doctors are almost always late, why don’t they change their wait times from e.g. 15 minutes to 25 minutes. If they have a few quick appointments then spend 5 minutes doing other work. I can understand that some people take longer, but work around that.
Sometimes it can’t be helped.
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May 12, 2014 at 1:16 pm
James
This whole scenario is the balance between people not keeping their appointments, being on-time taking longer than they should ie. chatting and doctors precious time. It’s like insurance you are gambling on a percentage not making claims – in this case appointments not being kept and some people taking more than their share. So the appointment system has built into it an allowance for this, and this ensures the patient pays not the doctor with their time – it is a simplistic view but it is tweaked to be that way.
How well it is managed or how efficient it is, is another question. I guess when you are the doctor (or the doctors receptionist) you are in control, you make the system work for you.
It is also a question of periodical timing. I see my Diabetes Specialist every 6 months so it is a matter of a coming together of lots of things combining down into 1 time slot. If that appointment fails it requires some hefty rework to reschedule sometimes.
So, it’s user pays if you are a good user.
If you are late or don’t keep your appointments have a thought for others!
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