"Too Long To Wait"

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment. It wasn't with my regular doctor but was with a specialist. My regular doctor thinks at my age it is time I had a routine colonostomy. So he referred me to this guy. This was the first time I had been to his office.

My appointment was for three in the afternoon. Being the prompt soul that I am, I arrived at fifteen minutes till three. After I signed in I was referred to a waiting room where there were several other people. This didn't concern me as there are two doctors practicing in the building. I had brought a book so I sat down and started reading.

Fifty pages later I began to wonder when I would be called. A lot of the people who were there when I arrived were still sitting there. Finally at five minutes till four my name was called. A nurse took me down the hall and weighed me and took my blood pressure. My blood pressure was up but that was because I was angered for having to sit so long. Afterwards I was escorted back to the waiting room and was told I would be called soon.

An hour later I was still sitting there. The lady next to me said she was with a friend, and that the friend's appointment had been for one that afternoon. I couldn't believe it. I had been there for over two hours and still had not seen the doctor. In my head I stormed up to the receptionist's desk and demanded to see the doctor immediately, or I told her I had other things I had to do and left.

Of course I didn't do either of these things. I just sat there and got madder and madder. Finally I was taken to a room and the PA came in and talked with me. I asked her if they always ran this far behind. She said it had been a bad day. She asked me a few questions and then said the doctor would be in to see me. About five minutes later he came in and stayed for all of five minutes.

I thought it was over but then I was told I needed to speak to the nurse who would schedule my colonostomy. This meant I was sent back to the waiting room to wait. I did finally get to speak to the nurse and got everything scheduled. As I left I looked at my watch. I had been at the doctor's office for over three hours.

Three hours, that's ridiculous! I had an appointment. Why was I told to be there at three if they were running so far behind? If I had been a walk-in I could understand, but I wasn't. There are people who take off from work to go to the doctor and the longer they are there the more it costs them. Do you think a doctor ever thinks about reimbursing someone for the "extra time" they miss from work because of poor scheduling?

The problem is you have no recourse. If you storm out you will just have to return at a later date and sit there again. Plus you don't want to make the doctor mad since he is the one who is going to be dealing with your health. It is a lose lose situation.

Maybe some doctor will read this and think about how unfair it is to keep people waiting for so long. If the delay is unavoidable a simple "I'm sorry" would go a long way.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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