A letter has just dropped through my letterbox.
I have just been offered an Outpatients Appointment with my Neurologist … …
For January 30th … … wait for it … …
NEXT YEAR
Geoff
Huh! That`s good, innit! I see mine tomorrow after almost a year and lots of empty promises last Feb!
luv Pollx
Mine make the appointments a year in advance, too.
I was even asked whether I’d prefer a Tuesday or a Wednesday!
Can anybody tell, that far ahead? A year is a long time, by anybody’s standards, but even longer with MS, as anything might happen. My routine a year from now could be very far from what it is today.
The other thing is that they have a notice posted in the waiting room, saying that if you miss your appointment, you will be “struck off”, and can only rejoin the neuro’s list by being re-referred by your GP!
Now I do realise that carelessly missing appointments wastes time, and costs the NHS (and the taxpayer) money. However, when the appointment might be over a year away, AND you suffer from a serious and highly unpredictable condition, AND it’s known sometimes to affect memory and/or concentration, I would have thought “expulsion” for forgetting just one is a little bit harsh.
I would never deliberately miss an appointment, thinking: “Oh, it doesn’t matter”. But if I consider whether I might ever miss one by accident, then yes, it’s possible - especially when they’re booked months away. I wonder if they’d really send me back to the GP to start again, if I rang to say: “Sorry, I slipped up”?
Tina
It’s one of my bugbears too! I expect is is something to do with some fatuous target-related crap. Most of the stupider stuff that happens seems to be.
Alison
x
I went to the hospital today for a lumbar puncture. As you can imagine I was pretty stressed out. When I arrived I was told that the doctor who was due to perform the lumbar puncture didn’t actually start her job until tomorrow. I was not impressed to say the least. It was a 75 mile round trip and my husband took a days leave to take me. This appointment was booked on 8th November. So now I have to wait for another 10-14 days before they can fit me in again.
When I saw my consultant at the beginning of November he said he would see me in 4 months i.e. beginning of March. I got an appointment for the end of April. No wonder everything takes so long.
Lynne
And this morning I got another letter!
The next appointment with my MS Nurse is set for June 2013.
This looks to me as though someone has been let loose with a new computerised appointments system.
What should I reply?
“Sorry, I will be changing channels on my TV, that day”?
To be quite fair, this particular appointments section were very good at changing one for me, when a particular date did not suit me.
Geoff