Why do Hosptals give the same time to about 30 patients for Outpatients Clinic?

M

Megan

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Why do Hosptals give the same time to about 30 patients for Outpatients Clinic.

My sister brought her 85 year old father-in-law to an out patients clinic for a check up. His appointment was for 10 a.m. It was 3 hours later before he saw the doctor. My sister was talking to some of the other patients waiting and they all seemed to have appointments for 10 a.m.. This was an Outpatients clinic and not A&E.

She herself attended Breast Check the day before. Her appointment was for 3.30p.m.. She arrived at 3.20p.m. was brought in and was finished at 3.45p.m.. Why cannot the Hospital run a similar system.
 
That's pretty bad. Have to say that my limited recent experience of attending hospitals on an appointment basis (Rotunda when the wife was pregnant and Temple Street with the nipper) was pretty smooth and we were generally seen to in or around the appointed time. Which hospital was this if you are at liberty to specify?
 
From personal experience, it does seem a little ridiculous to put 30 in at the same time but I know that there is a big problem with non-attenders at public clinics and as a result the clinics are almost always over-booked.

That said, 3 hours is too long for someone to be waiting - she should take it up with the patient representative in the hospital and they might make an attempt to stagger the clinics better
 
I would prefer not to name the hospital but it isn't a once off as it has happened on a number of occasions. I think it isn't right that a 85 year old man has to wait that long after travelling for an hour and a half to get there in the first place.
He has to go again next week to attend the diabetic clinic but it ins't just as bad as the clinic he was in yesterday.
 

Is he seeing a particular consultant? I remember my mother telling me that there was a particular consultant in Wexford who would prefer to have 30 pregnant women wait for hours for his majesty rather than make an effort to schedule the patients. Perhaps it is the same cultural problem?
 
Megan said:
My sister brought her 85 year old father-in-law to an out patients clinic for a check up. His appointment was for 10 a.m. It was 3 hours later before he saw the doctor.
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I used to think complaints about our hospitals, especially A&E, were exaggerated until my own family had its own experience last year - I'm now inclined to believe the complaints aren't near ferocious enough. Our experiences will haunt us forever, they were simply shocking, from start to finish.
 
They book outpatient clinics like this in most hospitals. Some have a ticket system so that if you arrive early you are seen first.
Many years ago I injured my hand in work and had to attend the dressings clinic in the Mater Hospital every day for a week (and every second day for another week). Everyone was booked in at the same time. The same was the case in St. James’s hospital at a fracture clinic a few years later, at the Comb hospital on three occasions with two different children and in Tallaght hospital with a child and on three occasions when my mother brought my Grandmother there.

Why do they organise it like that? : Because the health service is run for the benefit of those who work there, not the patients. In other words because it’s less hassle for the staff to organise.
 
I believe (I don't know for a fact, nor do I know where to check it out - maybe that famous Patient's Charter of Rights which came out a few years ago to grreat fanfare and then vanished) that the HSE policy is that people should be given individual appointment times in Out Patient Clinics. If you are not getting this service, COMPLAIN. Each area/district should have a designated Complaints Officer. I tend to complain to the Director of Nursing (used to be called Matron) which so far has been pretty effective.
 
Most if not all hospitals have a patient/customer charter outlining how you can make complaints about problems you may experience. Use this to voice your complaints where necessary.
 
I am attending a mternity hospital in Cork as a pubic patient and am given an appointment time but when you arrive you simply get a ticket and get in line so people who got a time of say 2pm could be see well in advance of someone with 1pm.
Ludicrous.
 

Something similar used to happen when I was attending a public maternity hospital in Cork before birth of my son in 1998 - everyone was given either morning or afternoon appointment with the same time. The queue used to start forming anything up to 90 minutes or 2 hours before the appointment time. I thought they would have done something about it by now.
I won't even start on the partners of mothers-to-be who would hog the seating and leave women who were in the late stages of pregnancy to stand around the edges of the waiting room....
 
I have visited a consultant on several occassions in the Blackrock Private Clinic at a cost of 150 Euro a pop (average 8 mins). The appointments were always for the same time of 10 a.m. & even though I was never late there were always about 10 others waiting when I arrived & no more than 1 or 2 arrived later. On my last visit the penny dropped & I found out that all patients were given a 10 a.m. slot which covered the entire morning's consultations. Those who knew this came in up to an hour early & were seen in the order that they checked in at the desk but those who arrived like myself just ahead of time sat & waited & waited whilst on top of the 150 Euro the clock on the expensive car park rang up more of my hard earned Euros.
 
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Unfortunately, doesn't seem to cover all out-patient appointments.​
 
I won't even start on the partners of mothers-to-be who would hog the seating and leave women who were in the late stages of pregnancy to stand around the edges of the waiting room....


Laughing at this as one particular midwife is notorious for hollering at the dads to be to get up off their backsides....my other half has narrowly missed her glare on a few occasions after getting engrossed in his newpaper.
 
I attended the Beaumont fracture clinic in 2004 8 times.

Everybody was booked in for 10 o'clock. Say average 50 people. As you arrived you told the receptionist who moved your file to a new pile. The doctors/consultants then took the next file from the bottom of this new pile. This worked well first come first served.

Anybody coming in that was obviously very broken up or infirm got their files put to the bottom so as to be taken next – queue jumpers.

After the first couple of times I didn’t bother showing up until after 11.

My perception of the whole thing was that most of people waiting to be seen had a few hours to spare so this method didn’t cause too much upset. If your running a FREE service with appointments people will take the piss out of it.
 
Bamhan said:
I won't even start on the partners of mothers-to-be who would hog the seating and leave women who were in the late stages of pregnancy to stand around the edges of the waiting room....
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That's pure ignorance!
 
davidoco said:
IMy perception of the whole thing was that most of people waiting to be seen had a few hours to spare so this method didn’t cause too much upset. If your running a FREE service with appointments people will take the piss out of it.
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It's not a free service. It's free at the point of consumption, very expensive at every stage up to that. If you don't have a few hours to spare (work, child minder etc) what do you do?
 
Hi there,
I had the pleasure of having to attend an outpatient clinic every 3 month for the past year and a half. I always arrive on time and I always have to wait for a minimum of 2 hours. I did ask the last time why they cannot call patients if they see there is a backlog and tell them their appointment would be delayed by whatever time - this is what they do in other countries. They looked at me as if I had made an absolutely outrageous suggestion. I might add that after having waited for 2 hours the last time to see my consultant I was met by someone who looked about 22 and who apologised that the consultant was not actually there today but that she would take pictures and show them to the consultant. She then proceeded taking pictures with a digital camera and send me home. What can I say ?
M.
 
I am not afraid to name a hospital that does this. the Louth hospital in dundalk give the exact same time for appointments to everybody who as to make an apointment. think it just make the place look busier than it actually is so maybe it looks better if theres 30 or so patients waiting than if there was only one or two. wonder would they do that at a private hospital......let me think........ mmmmmmm. No
and in my daughters case the last time she had an appointment the nurse took her details and told her to take a seat. two hours later and she enquires as to when she will be attended to. nurse just flippantly stated that her consultant wasn't on duty and that she may as well go home.
great service altogether from a hospital that wants everybody in the town to make it an election issue. couple of jcbs would be more suitable.
 
Merlin said:
What can I say ? M.
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O dear. How about - put in a complaint?? If the consultant got complained to by everybody in every clinic, he'd do somthing about it. Is this the great Irish disease - moan in private and put up with in public?
 
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