Valuing the NHS

I tried to phone again at 4.25 pm but a recorded message told me that the department had shut at 4.30 pm.
No reply to my email.
At this rate I shall be costing the NHS £159 for a missed appointment.

late letter

I was given a follow-up appointment at a clinic for a date in February which was confirmed in three text messages and one letter. However, then I received another letter to say that, due to unforeseen circumstances, it had been cancelled. I then received another late for a slightly later date.

However, the second date is not convenient for me so I spent two lots of 15 minutes on the phone trying to get through to re-arrange the appointment. I then sent an email instead but have had no reply.

I can keep trying to re-arrange the appointment or I can just, through frustration, become another 'no show'.

Most professional places that I attend now advise that a missed appointment fee will be charged for non-attendance.

Margaret X not sure what you mean by waste of surgery time & letters being sent. I make appointments online or by phone to see my GP. If the GP then refers a patient on to a specialist consultant a letter / email is sent to patient detailing date , place & time. If that proves to be inconvenient I can go online or phone to change it. Time is wasted only if patients fail to inform in advance of non attendance. I agree too many appointments are missed.

I'm always amazed to hear of patients 'being sent for'
What a waste of surgery time, sending all those letters.

In Germany you make your appointment and then you turn up at the stated time and if not you can be charged for the doctors time. An appointment has to be cancelled at least 2 ours before the time, or prefrably the day before.
The NHS has spoilt everyone and like spoilt children patients don't take responsibility for their own health.
You are right, the NHS is not valued.

Yorkshiregirl The poo stick test is not be sent to you because you have symptoms that could be bowel cancer, which is what would have happened, I assume when you went for tests when your breast cancer was diagnosed.

Doing the poo tests, you will be one of a population of millions doing it, of which only a very small percent will be found to have blood in their poo, which is all the test diagnoses, of those only a smaller proportion will be showing signs of cancer. If the test does end up with a diagnosis of cancer, it will have been caught so early that you have no obvious symptoms and treatment should be far less invasive or as serious as it was for your breast cancer.

My DF went for a medical MOT every year. In his late 80s he was called back because there was blood in his urine. The cause was bladder cancer, caught so early that treatment consisted of laser surgery that simply burnt off the patches of affected bladder cells. He was then told that all was needed was this treatment, in outpatients, twice a year and whatever he died of, it was unlikely to be bladder cancer.

The doctors were right. He lived to be 92, still catching the bus to the hospital and back for treatment every six months, until he died of heart disease.

Do it.

Yorkshiregirl DO IT because doing the poo sticks test makes absolutely no difference to whether you have a cancer or not. If the cancer were a man-eating tiger, then closing your eyes so that you couldn't see it wouldn't make it go away. No, it would still be there, and would still savage you unless you took action against it. The sooner you took that action, the less likely it would be to sneak up on you when you couldn't see it.

It's all about good manners too Lily. Letting someone know in good time if you can't make that particular day. It only takes a quick phone call.

I wouldn't dream of not turning up for an appointment. It is down to my upbringing and moral fibre.

"No no no
Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"

I think more needs to be clarified that the service is not free.. but free at the point of delivery. Tax , NI contributions etc all pay for the amazing service.

When I had physiotherapy they had a great system. You were given an appointment, but you had to telephone the day before, before 12 to confirm. If you failed to do so your spot was offered to other people some time after 2pm. I was offered one of these appointments and was pleased to accept, it meant a really short wait for the physio .

Yes...by all means charge if YOU'VE requested an appointment and YOU fail to show...but these 'state ordained' 'appointments' are a different thing altogether, totally unsolicited, and while I would cancel personally, I can't hugely criticise those who don't!

I think the NHS is wonderful, and OH would not be here without it. I agree that wasted appts are a real problem, however some missed appts are not the patient's fault. I recently called to change OH's appt because he was ill and could not attend. I did it 3 days in advance and specifically asked for the original appt to be cancelled. I had a reason to phone back the following day, the receptionist searched for it by name and found the original appt which had not been cancelled from the system, although the new one was also there.

There is also a 10-min window for latecomers and I've been in the surgery when a parent was turned away with an obviously sick child for being 12 mins late because the bus hadn't turned up. When the numbers are displayed in the surgery there must be a significant minority which are not the patient's fault, and an allowance made for human error or compassion shown in certain circumstances.

I would be reluctant to have a system where we had to pay even if there were exemptions because I read that some don't collect their prescriptions because they feel they can't afford them. There is always a threshold for these things which is sometimes not appropriate for all.

I have recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. My GP signed me up for a twelve-sessions exercise course at our local medical centre. It's designed to strengthen the supporting muscles, and thus help to reduce pain in the affected joints. He said that if I signed up, I must commit to attending the full course (barring extenuating circumstances)
The classes are designed for 8 people at a time, and there are three physiotherapists in attendance to run it, and help people with the exercises.
The 8 of us duly turned up for the first session, which was quite gentle, and included a talk about aims and methods.
Only seven turned up for the next one. and the third. Apparently the staff contacted the missing, and quite young, lady, and she just told them that it was too much trouble, and she didn't think that it would do her any good.
I had to wait some time before being invited on the course, so there is obviously a waiting list. It has made me very angry that this woman has wasted a place which could be easing someone else's pain. I, at 79, can cope with the exercises, and feel that they are doing me some good, and she has just walked (or rather hobbled) away. She didn't even have the good manners to contact them.

The NHS came into being in my parents' lifetime, which caused them to appreciate it greatly. That appreciation, in turn, rubbed off on our generation to a certain extent, but this, no doubt, becomes diluted with each new generation, it just becoming the 'norm', and a 'right'. As someone already said, education is required. It's a pity that patients couldn't be sent an annual summary of the cost of all appointments, treatments and medication which they have received, illustrating what they would have had to pay if we didn't have the NHS - or what they would have had to do without, due to the cost.

I’ve never missed an appointment knowingly. It can however be difficult to cancel if the only contact method is via the internet. I agree with others that it is our responsibility to take preventative measures to stay healthy. When you have lived abroad and have had to pay the real costs of treatment you realise how lucky we are.
Maybe it’s time to introduce a refundable booking charge but the poorest may not be able to afford this.

Another wonderful example of our NHS as shown tonight on the Walton Centre-Liverpool. The staff are remarkable as is their expertise and care. Bless them all.

I'm in agreement with you completely, and I'm truly grateful to the nhs for my breast cancer treatment that lasted 18 months and saved my life. Today I received a letter to say I will receive my bowel cancer screening pack in 2 weeks, but I'm terrified to do it, because I really don't know if I could go through anymore surgery, chemotherapy etc if it came back positive.

I do get text reminders from Doctors & Dentist. My DM is almost 90 & she doesn't have a mobile, no reminders & she has received appointments for dates that have passed.

I had a phone call at 7.30pm from Podiatry to ask if I could go the following day rather than today, that's efficient.

I hate appointments being made for me as I often have to ring & change.

Last year I received two letters with appointments at two different Hospitals on the same day & same time

Charging is not the answer as those of us on low income would not be able to go to Doctors or have to have exemption certificates

I feel very uneasy about charges being applied or any treatment. I think that would be a dangerous precedent to set and I am sure before long it would be easy for administrators to charge for all sorts of NHS work. WE don't want to go down that road. I'd suffer if I had to pay for hospital check ups or medicines.

I do however think it is disgraceful that people do not turn up to appointments that they may have known about for weeks or months. There is no excuse. Every letter I have been sent contains a number to call if you need to cancel. My GP and local hospital send me a text the day before too, to remind me I have an appointment.

I appreciate there may be emergencies which prevent people from getting to their appointment but I imagine some people have no conscience if they feel it is OK to waste the time of staff and specialists by not turning up.

As someone who had a small breast cancer found last year via a mammogram I am astonished that women don't attend!!! Yes, it's uncomfortable but it's only a few seconds and far preferable to possibly dying of cancer!!!!

Same goes for the bowel cancer screening - unpleasant but worthwhile.

As for missed GP appointments I'm with those who suggest some form of fee or fine. People take notice when it hits them inthe pocket!

Having a fee system would appear to be one sensible way to get this sorted. Then if anyone fails to pay they should be told they cannot get any further treatment until they pay, make them pay upfront.

The one point that makes this difficult is who will ask for and obtain the money? Clearly doctors should not have to do this and asking other staff to do it will also raise problems. For hospitals that could be easier but clearly this is a problem that must be resolved.

I worked as a doctors recepionist for a number of years. I was appalled at the number of appointments where the patient dint turn up. I spoke to the practise manager on numerous occasions but to no avail. Until something drastic is in place nothing will be done .