Kept Waiting Too Long!!!!

[april1693]

I regularly take my elderly mum to various GP appointments and in the last 2 years, we have never been seen at the appointed time. As a former nurse I am we'll aware that for a multitude of reasons this can happen but it's becoming ridiculous! Last week she was kept waiting 45 minutes past her appointment time(it's nearly always between 30-45 minutes) and today it was an hour and ten minutes before she was called! Thankfully my mother is in relatively good health (the usual old-age related wear and tear) but no one should be kept that long! On one previous occasion when we've had to wait, I approached the Gestapo (they call themselves receptionists - I beg to differ as we get little in the way of a reception!) only to be told "these things happen - sick people don't choose to be sick!" I have had enough and want to make an official complaint and I would appreciate any advice/information, Thank you x

[Connemmara]

April - there was a thread this week about waiting for appointments - other OPs will guide you there.

[Eve]

I'm sure there was a similar thread to this the other day.

I accept that at times I just have to wait, some people need more time than others and I have benefitted from that in the past.

If I'm unwell then I'm grateful for the appointment, usually the same day if I need one, so don't mind waiting.

[AlwaysConfused]

I understand how frustrating this is. Your surgery should have feedback forms, which would be a good first step. Your surgery will also have a complaints procedure which you should be able to find out at the reception. But perhaps ask to speak with the practise manager before putting in an official complaint.

[april1693]

Many thanks Connemara, I'll have a look.

[Connemmara]

April if and when you read the thread you may be a bit disappointed with the answers. Forewarned is forearmed.

[april1693]

Thank you all, I think my first port of call will be with the Practice manager - If I can find out who it is. Eve. I understand your point but the Gp sends for my mother - she does not seek out these appointments, they are check ups etc for high bp, diabetes, cholesterol and so on. Mum has actually told me she feels such a fraud sitting in a waiting room full of ill people.

[Eve]

I have a number of chronic health conditions including rhumatoid arthritis, plenty of routine appointments, GP, bloods etc... both GP practice and hospital. I spent a fair amount of time waiting.

[woofgang]

If your mum doesn't feel that she needs to see the doctor, then she doesn't have to go....

[april1693]

She more or less said that to the gp at one stage Wolfgang - gp almost bit her nose off saying she didn't know know lucky she was to be covered by such an efficient health service! My mother is very old school and has the utmost respect for her gp. I on the other hand, know that if it wasn't for the pc in front of them, they could diagnose dung in a diarrhoea factory.

[april1693]

*how

[Cloverjo]

I can understand you being upset about being kept waiting for a long time, but at least it shows that the docs take as much time as is needed for each patient rather than bundling them out after the allotted 10 minutes or whatever it is.

[boxtops]

April, I wouldn't say any of that - I work with a lot of GPs practices and yes, things can vary, but by and large the service is good. The drift from the thread about waiting times earlier this week was "we don't really mind waiting because next time, it could be me the doctor's seeing when the appointment overruns" - I'd rather be seen by someone who gives me time, that someone who doesn't. As for the computer screen - all records are now on the screen, they have to look at the screen, and telemedicine is the way forward - far more efficient than going to have to thumb through reference documents if they want to check something out.

If however you do want to make a complaint, every GP practice has an official complaints process (details of it will be available in reception) - you start by putting your complaint in writing and addressing to the Complaints Manager at the surgery. They have to respond in so many days in writing then give you a date for a report after their investigation into what you're complaining about.

[naomi24]

This from SMP on another thread, and something worth thinking about.

//When you are sitting waiting and the doctor's running late
Please don't rush up to the desk all angry and irate.

We know that you arrived on time and want to be seen quick
But the doctor sometimes takes his time with someone very sick.

They know that you are waiting and we'll try to let you know
That the doctor is a bit behind and not on a go-slow.

So we will do our very best but please remember too
The doctor may run late one day because he's treating YOU.//

[Ann]

I do like that poem Naomi!
I find in our practice all the best (and kindest) doctors keep patients waiting just because they take time to listen to their patients concerns and care about them. The doctors who rush you out of their room are abrupt and not bothered to go into your health problem in depth. Mine always apologises for keeping me waiting ...........

[naomi24]

People forget that doctors are just ordinary people and like everyone else, at the end of the day, they want to go home on time too. Fortunately for those who really need their help, the good ones rarely do.

[boxtops]

It sounds as if your mum is undergoing the health checks which every practice has to do on patients over a certain age, it's an excellent idea, but as I've said on another thread, they don't have to be done by a doctor - a non-medical person such as the practice nurse or HCA can do BP and urinalysis etc., ours do and they are fully trained for it. As about that, when you speak to the practice manager - that's where you should start if you are unhappy with the existing processes.

[ludwig]

I'd say an hour and 10 after the appointment time is pretty bad for an elderly person to have to wait. The GP needs to think about the needs of the patients sitting in the waiting room as well as the one they've got in front of them at any particular moment.

[Mamyalynne]

The way the system is run , the only appointment that could be spot on time (barring the Doctor being delayed on route to surgery) is the first one, if the next 5 appointments run a few minutes over it mounts up and soon becomes more than people expect - but as the poem says are you or your loved ones in and out in the allotted time every time ?

[Mamyalynne]

I know I am not.

[boxtops]

Nor me, mamya - 25 mins the last time I went.