How Long Shall I Wait In?

[Barsel]

Had a letter from the hospital to say I would be getting a phone call today at 9.45am from a consultant and make sure I'm available to take the call.
I have to go out at 11am and at the moment, I still haven't received the call.
Do you think waiting in for over an hour is reasonable?

[calmck]

Do you/they not have mobile phone contact? Can you contact secretary and say you have to go out

[Barsel]

I honestly don't know if they have my mobile number, and I was thinking if he hasn't phoned by 10.55am I will try to phone his secretary, but I just wondered how long do they expect you to wait around for.

[Smowball]

Agree with calmck - call them

[pixie374]

I would say within an hour is reasonable-ish with NHS (or at least, I'd expect it). I would try contacting them now, if you have to go out.

[Canary42]

You have to decide which is more important, your health or your 11 o'clock appointment. We can't make that decision for you I'm afraid. Waiting over an hour is certainly unreasonable, but so is Covid-19 and a considerably under-funded NHS. I ended up having to call them (against their advice) for my first jab, and it now looks as though I'm in the same boat for the second.

[New Judge]

I would say that an hour is extremely unreasonable. Ten minutes lateness is the most I would accept before it becomes rude.

[gingejbee]

Perhaps, as a hospital consultant, something more urgent/important has cropped up?

[bhg481]

It could well be that the consultant was called away at short notice to give advice to eg, an emergency situation. Ringing his secretary and explaining your position is the best option.

[New Judge]

//...and a considerably under-funded NHS.//

Underfunded? Last year the NHS received in the order of £140bn. That's over £2,000 for every man, woman and child we think is in the country (the figure is necessarily approximate because the authorities have absolutely no idea how many people live here). Bearing in mind that the vast majority of the population make little or no call on the NHS I would say that's considerably well funded. The problem is the funds are frittered away because the NHS is badly managed.

[Barsel]

bhg the letter said from the consultant or one of his team, and I thought they could perhaps have let me know if nobody was able to phone me.

[pixie374]

Either way, nj, it isn't the fault of the staff, and neither does it help Barsel, if she misses an appointment.

[Barsel]

Have just phoned the sec and it was the answer machine, so have left a message.
Thanks for your answers.

[pixie374]

Hope all is well x

[anneasquith]

Unfortunately, IMO at this time in the NHS I would be prepared to wait hours for a call . Good luck .

[Barsel]

I have a dental appointment at 11.15am that I have waited weeks for, and if I cancel that, I've no idea when I will get another appointment.
Hopefully they will send me another telephone appointment.

[margarettom]

I would also make it clear they have to phone you on your mobile, so the same situation doesn’t arise again.

[New Judge]

//Unfortunately, IMO at this time in the NHS I would be prepared to wait hours for a call .//

Why? If they make an arrangement to phone you at a time of their choosing they should do so. What is so special about the NHS that its patients cannot be afforded the usual courtesies? When you say "at this time", what is special about this time? Covid patients are very low (less than one in a hundred beds), most GP surgeries have had their doors welded shut for fifteen months so referrals onto hospital must be very low.

[emmie]

i waited all day for one call from the hospital, luckily i didn't have to go out.

[teacake44]

I said a few weeks ago that I would accept the 21st of this month to be the end of lock down to give a little grace for more vaccines to be given. Its now getting very silly. It appears that the covid excuse for getting back to work in all areas, more so the NHS AND DOCTORS, is going to carry on for as long as they can get away with it. The way its shaping up the government will be advising that we don't drive, don't walk anywhere, in fact don't do anything that may lead to the slightest accident where we may need the docs or a hospital visit, in other words we have to protect the NHS from the public at large at all costs.

[davebro]

Well the NHS have been working so hard over the last 18 months maybe it's time they all took a holiday so don't expect normal service any time soon?

(I went to the dentist this morning - pretty much normal service apart from masking up in reception area.)