Doctors making you wait

AARRRGH · 09-10-2009 12:26AM

itsnotmyname wrote: »

This just mirrors how our health system works ....or does'nt !
We'd compalin if our Tesco delivery did'nt arrive on schedule , but yet, not a word will be uttered to the doc when we're in the waiting room for over an hour, and forking out €60 for the pleasure. Our health system needs to be run like a business ......take our money ....but give us the goods !!!!

The problem is most doctors are deluded and think they're better than everyone else... when in reality they have one of the worst jobs in the world and really should be sympathised.

itsnotmyname · 09-10-2009 12:32AM

theres no money would pay for the aggro and pressure they endure .......

AARRRGH · 09-10-2009 12:35AM

itsnotmyname wrote: »

theres no money would pay for the aggro and pressure they endure .......

Yeah, forgetting the fact they have to touch sick people all day and do things like look at old hairy diseased assholes, they also could be sued anytime and could cause someone to die.

Crap job, crap life.

Occam · 09-10-2009 12:55AM

itsnotmyname wrote: »

This just mirrors how our health system works ....or does'nt !
We'd compalin if our Tesco delivery did'nt arrive on schedule , but yet, not a word will be uttered to the doc when we're in the waiting room for over an hour, and forking out €60 for the pleasure. Our health system needs to be run like a business ......take our money ....but give us the goods !!!!

Almost all GP surgerys are already running as a business. In terms of medical card patients they are independent contractors to the HSE. In terms of private patients they are essentially sole traders.

ejmaztec · 09-10-2009 01:01AM

itsnotmyname wrote: »

theres no money would pay for the aggro and pressure they endure .......

There is, and it once belonged to us.:(

Occam · 09-10-2009 01:06AM

Shelflife wrote: »

It could well be any of the above and i have no problem with doctors taking their time with patients. But there was only 1 other patient and i had gone to the bother of making an appointment. If they are running late or tied up on the phone would it kill them to let you know that they are running late?

its basic manners and at the end of the day we are paying customers.

Jesus some people really want to have their cake and eat it.

Its like this you met a Doctor who is likely overworked and very stressed. He is working in a system that is close to collapse, with GP surgerys being about the only part of the health system that even close to works. And it only works because its the part the HSE have least to do with.

While he dealt with another patient you had to wait. Big deal. Perhaps he should have apologised.

But what should he have apologised for? Is it really his fault you were kept waiting? Or do you think there might be a bigger issue in the health system that is the root problem?

marcsignal · 09-10-2009 01:20AM

Shelflife wrote: »

had an appointment this morning at 930. arrived on time, 1 other patient there.

finally got into the doc at 10.20 no apology no nothing.

maybe this was the other patient ??

tallaght01 · 09-10-2009 04:07AM

AARRRGH wrote: »

Crap job, crap life.

It's a great job, an and average life.

But it's all about communication. I'll usually tell the punters why I'm late, and I'll apologise. I don't give any personal details away (sorry we're running late, but I had to scrub Jim Clearey's mickey for an hour before I could even get near it to examine). But I'll say that we've had some very sick people in earlier and that they took up a lot of time.

I kept a room full of people waiting over an hour late a while back, when a mum brought her kid into my paediatric clinic who was grossly dehydrated and needed some pretty urgent intervention.

I told people the bones of what happened, and they were all fine about it. People are genuinely reasonable if you let them know what's happening.

The problem is docs get crotchety about it, because the same courtesy is rarely afforded to us.

People turn up late ALL the time. 6pm and you're about to go home, and someone is guaranteed to walk in 2 hours late. I always see them. In fact, I hang around after clinics doing my paperwork in the clinic room because I know people will turn up late. A colleague told a patient she couldn't see her a while ago, as they turned up at 5.20, and a written complaint followed to the hospital.

So, it does work both ways. But when one person is sick, an the other is usually snowed under, the niceties do often get left at the door.

Quackles · 09-10-2009 08:16AM

I don't mind waiting. I have seen first hand what can delay things.. My gp took my son in with little warning after closing time last year (he had seen him earlier in the day, but things went downhill fast), and spent ages with us treating him and making the necessary arrangements to have him admitted. I know he's not just sitting in the office scratching himself.

the_syco · 09-10-2009 08:54AM

Waiting time for GP: 5 to 10 minutes
Waiting time for dentist, give or take 30 minutes. Usually ontime, or early, though.

Long Onion · 09-10-2009 09:03AM

It is, methinks, no coincidence that the words 'patients' and 'patience' are so similar.

Robxxx7 · 09-10-2009 09:10AM

i prefer to think of myself as a customer and as a paying customer if i don't get the service i expect then i complain ... don't matter whether its a shop, surgery or wherever... i will complain

Long Onion · 09-10-2009 09:12AM

Robxxx7 wrote: »

i prefer to think of myself as a customer and as a paying customer if i don't get the service i expect then i complain ... don't matter whether its a shop, surgery or wherever... i will complain

Have you had many prostate examinations this year?

Robxxx7 · 09-10-2009 09:49AM

nope ... but i would still complain if i wasn't happy with the service ..in fact i would use my discretion in choice and go elsewhere

Shelflife · 09-10-2009 10:12AM

Occam wrote: »

Jesus some people really want to have their cake and eat it.

Its like this you met a Doctor who is likely overworked and very stressed. He is working in a system that is close to collapse, with GP surgerys being about the only part of the health system that even close to works. And it only works because its the part the HSE have least to do with.

While he dealt with another patient you had to wait. Big deal. Perhaps he should have apologised.

But what should he have apologised for? Is it really his fault you were kept waiting? Or do you think there might be a bigger issue in the health system that is the root problem?

If you bothered to read the thread properly you would have noted the following.

I had an appointment for 930. there was only 1 other patient in the room -- no emergency no other patients waiting at the time, the first person was seen and then there was a 20 min gap until i was seen (after the first patient was gone).

Where you get the idea that a doctor in a private practice is more over worked or over stressed than the rest of us is laughable.

Imo if there are appointments arranged then he should keep that time. if he cant for some reason then he should inform the customer that he is running late and apologise. Its basic manners.

drkpower · 09-10-2009 10:30AM

Robxxx7 wrote: »

nope ... but i would still complain if i wasn't happy with the service ..in fact i would use my discretion in choice and go elsewhere

And you are free to do so.

But perhaps you don't fully understand the peculiarities of medicine. Have a read of Occam's excellent post a page back; there are many reasons why a doctor may be delayed in seeeing you. Most of them are because he is providing such a good service. While you may only need him to see you for a cough or a sprain, you may need him one day to see you or your kid at home, in a relative emergency, and then you may be very happy to have the busy GP who does house calls and sees sick patients out of turn.

And remember, changing doctors is not always straightforward as changing newsagents. The experience of you and your family's medical medical history and personality can often be vital information in coming to a diagnosis or knowing the right way to manage you or your condition. Much of that advantage is lost when you change GPs. If you are a healthy 25 year old, that is not that important but it becomes more important over time.

Thornography · 09-10-2009 10:39AM

My Doc's great, Arive on time, 2 mins later your seen and mended

drkpower · 09-10-2009 10:41AM

Shelflife wrote: »

If you bothered to read the thread properly you would have noted the following.

I had an appointment for 930. there was only 1 other patient in the room -- no emergency no other patients waiting at the time, the first person was seen and then there was a 20 min gap until i was seen (after the first patient was gone).

Where you get the idea that a doctor in a private practice is more over worked or over stressed than the rest of us is laughable.

Imo if there are appointments arranged then he should keep that time. if he cant for some reason then he should inform the customer that he is running late and apologise. Its basic manners.

I don't think anyone is arguing with the inform & apologise point.

But do you know what he was doing in that 20 minutes? Was he answering two phonecalls from patients with heart disease who had woken up with chest pains, was he answering a complicatred query from a nursing home about one of his patients, was he discussing a patients multi-drug regime with a pharmacist? Were those things less important than seeing you? And if you were the guy at home with chest pain wondering what to do, what would you have thought if the GP wouldnt take your calll because he had a routine patient to see?

As for 'stressful', the job of a doctor/GP is more stressful than most jobs, perhaps not to ridiculous levels, but it is stressful for a number of reasons, many of which have been elaborated upon already.

Robxxx7 · 09-10-2009 10:43AM

drkpower wrote: »

And you are free to do so.

But perhaps you don't fully understand the peculiarities of medicine. Have a read of Occam's excellent post a page back; there are many reasons why a doctor may be delayed in seeeing you. Most of them are because he is providing such a good service. While you may only need him to see you for a cough or a sprain, you may need him one day to see you or your kid at home, in a relative emergency, and then you may be very happy to have the busy GP who does house calls and sees sick patients out of turn.

And remember, changing doctors is not always straightforward as changing newsagents. The experience of you and your family's medical medical history and personality can often be vital information in coming to a diagnosis or knowing the right way to manage you or your condition. Much of that advantage is lost when you change GPs. If you are a healthy 25 year old, that is not that important but it becomes more important over time.

Well if its an emergency i'll call the emergency services, i have far more faith in paramedics

I wish i was 25 .. but alas i'm far the wrong side of that .. the point being made on this thread is that we as patients/customers deserve a bit of common courtesy when we are being made to wait ..it takes no more than 5 seconds for the practice receptionist to say, by the way the doctor is running 30 minutes late etc ... and then for the doctor to say when he/she see's you 'sorry for the delay but i've had some emergencies or whatever to deal with.'

You know the doctors are not the only ones busy, there are plenty of people out there working long hours for small pay, stressed out and doing important work ... lets have a bit of mutual respect for each other rather than it being one way all the time

drkpower · 09-10-2009 11:07AM

Robxxx7 wrote: »

Well if its an emergency i'll call the emergency services, i have far more faith in paramedics

I wish i was 25 .. but alas i'm far the wrong side of that .. the point being made on this thread is that we as patients/customers deserve a bit of common courtesy when we are being made to wait ..it takes no more than 5 seconds for the practice receptionist to say, by the way the doctor is running 30 minutes late etc ... and then for the doctor to say when he/she see's you 'sorry for the delay but i've had some emergencies or whatever to deal with.'

You know the doctors are not the only ones busy, there are plenty of people out there working long hours for small pay, stressed out and doing important work ... lets have a bit of mutual respect for each other rather than it being one way all the time

Again, I dont think anyone would argue with the 'common courtesyy' point and, no doubt, a lot of people have stressful jobs. If that is the limit of your compolaint, then it is well founded.

But, again, I think you have a misconception about medical services. If you (and everyone else) calls the emergency services to be brought to A&E everytime you have a relative emergency, you are doing noone, including yourself, a favour. Many "emergencies" do not require anything more than GP directed treatment. And if you have more faith in paramedics than GPs in you or your family's treatment, then I would be really concerned.

mickdw · 09-10-2009 11:26AM

If you have an appointment, you shouldnt have to wait half the day to be seen. Now its ok saying things crop up for the doctor to attend to but from experience of say turning up for an Xray, many people will have the same appointment time and there will be alot of people waiting. Even if they do give different appointment times, they never seem to be accurate so it must be that stuff crops up every day for the doctor to attend to. On that basis, surely, the appointments should be adjusted as they are simply not realistic. This would reduce wating times. For sure you will have to wait at the gp as its just a walk in setup but when given a time to show up, you shouldnt have an undue wait.
If I was in a line of 10 people waiting and my appointment time was long passed, I would rather someone came out and said you away for 2 hours instead of sitting blankly waiting.

Vorsprung · 09-10-2009 11:40AM

Should the title of this thread not be changed to "Sick people making you wait"!?

irish_bob · 09-10-2009 11:44AM

drkpower wrote: »

And you are free to do so.

But perhaps you don't fully understand the peculiarities of medicine. Have a read of Occam's excellent post a page back; there are many reasons why a doctor may be delayed in seeeing you. Most of them are because he is providing such a good service. While you may only need him to see you for a cough or a sprain, you may need him one day to see you or your kid at home, in a relative emergency, and then you may be very happy to have the busy GP who does house calls and sees sick patients out of turn.

And remember, changing doctors is not always straightforward as changing newsagents. The experience of you and your family's medical medical history and personality can often be vital information in coming to a diagnosis or knowing the right way to manage you or your condition. Much of that advantage is lost when you change GPs. If you are a healthy 25 year old, that is not that important but it becomes more important over time.

your right about changing doctors being difficult , they operate more or less as a cartel , at least in rural ireland , say for example you live in kilcock in kildare and are not happy with your local gp , you would think it would be no propblem to simply ring up the gp in neighbouring summerhill in county meath , no sir , the gp in summerhill wont see you for the simple reason that doctors in rural areas have an unwritten contract between them that they do not steal each other patients , i have experienced this with more than three doctors within a 15 mile radius , all of them told me to go back to my local gp and with one of them , i didnt make it past the phone , they see themselves as above vulgar competition , its one thing going to dunnes intead of tesco , quite another changing from dr smith to dr flynn

Elba101 · 09-10-2009 12:38PM

Was in Scotland and arrived in A&E at about 11.00pm on a Sat night....waited for an hour to get seen to by a nurse who apologised for the 'long' wait. Got seen to by a doc, got Xrays and got results. Walked out no later then 1.30am and wasn't charged a penny...:eek:

Thoie · 09-10-2009 12:39PM

irish_bob wrote: »

your right about changing doctors being difficult , they operate more or less as a cartel

I grew up in a town that had a number of different GPs (within a 3 mile radius I'd estimate there were 4 or 5 GPs). People changed GP without any trouble that I ever heard of. At the same time the GPs used cover each other for holidays regularly enough, and worked out between them who'd do house calls - so if you rang your GP for a middle of the night emergency you always knew someone would turn up without any messing. Maybe it's something specific to your location.

Occam · 09-10-2009 01:06PM

Shelflife wrote: »

If you bothered to read the thread properly you would have noted the following.

I had an appointment for 930. there was only 1 other patient in the room -- no emergency no other patients waiting at the time, the first person was seen and then there was a 20 min gap until i was seen (after the first patient was gone).

I did read the thread properly. But you don't seem to be getting two important facts :

1) It does not take an emergency to justify delaying your appointment. Urgent cases need to be attended to before you,even if you have an appointment.

2) While you may be the only one in the waiting room, don't forget the GP likely has 1000+ other patients, and associated referrals\reports\test results\prescrriptions any of which could be urgent. These will at times have a higher priority than keeping appointment schedules.

Shelflife wrote: »

Imo if there are appointments arranged then he should keep that time. if he cant for some reason then he should inform the customer that he is running late and apologise. Its basic manners.

Agreed, he should have said something. However he may not even know he is behind on appointments, as these are most likely managed by other staff.

professore · 09-10-2009 01:14PM

PlastikdaN wrote: »

My Doc's great, Arive on time, 2 mins later your seen and mended

You might not say that if he/she misses something serious due to a cursory exam.

smk89 · 09-10-2009 01:24PM

i guess im lucky but ive never had to wait more than 5 mins. though i must say that doctors dont do this intentionally, if a patient comes in you can turn him/her away because they are taking up time

Thornography · 09-10-2009 01:38PM

professore wrote: »

You might not say that if he/she misses something serious due to a cursory exam.

No, I think it`d be more along the lines of *Ouch, My anus*

Turd Ferguson · 09-10-2009 01:39PM

genericguy wrote: »

Ah, an attempted grammar nazi.

Repeat after me Turd:

Pot.
Kettle.
Black.

Since when was misspelling counted as grammar? Also it was a typography error I was pointing out, not grammar....DOUBLE FAIL!!!!

Doctors making you wait

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