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Post by meldart on Jul 21, 2006 13:10:22 GMT -5
I am SO frustrated! I had a really painful night last night and woke up this morning in agnony, I couldn't get out of bed or straighten my legs!
So I called my doctor this morning because I wanted an appointment to discuss a new pill (this one obviously isnt working) and I wanted a referal to a nearby specialist.... so knowing what my doctors is like I called to book an appointment for 1st August as its the only day I have off work ( just to add to the problem my boss doesn't allow me time off work to go to hospital or doc's so I have to book holiday) only to be told that they don't have any appointment till the 8th!!!
What is wrong with the NHS in England ..... it drives me mad!!!
Sorry really needed to let off steam, no one at work understands!!
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Post by erzulie on Jul 21, 2006 18:00:44 GMT -5
I'm not sure what the NHS is, but we have the same problem in America with trying to get appointments. I went to a nurse practioner when my endoemtriosis pain started getting a lot worse--she was actually the first medical professional to suggest I might have this disease--and she said she'd set me up an appointment with a gynecologist so I could schedule a laparoscopy as soon as possible. She looked at all the available appointments with ALL the doctors and the first thing she could come up with was a month away! It was a looong month believe me, I was going downhill really fast and I was so scared that the disease would be eating away at my organs!
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Post by ouchy on Jul 21, 2006 23:00:40 GMT -5
I've had the same problem. Oh. You'll love this!!! Annual exams with a gynecologist here where I live are booked 4 months before the appointment--because the gynecologists are completely booked before that! So, then about 2 weeks before my exam, I received a call that the doctor would be in surgery that day, and I had to reschedule--which put my appointment out a month. So, okay. A month rolls around. I drove to the clinic just to find out I had been bumped from my annual exam--and no one called to tell me!!! The evil front desk people and nurse told me that someone had called my work, but my work told them that I no longer work there--which was a lie, because the number they had on record for my "work" number was my husband's cell phone, and he never received a call from them. Also, I was told that I didn't answer my phone...but I couldn't answer my phone if it never rang! I told them that whoever said that my work told them that I didn't work there any longer made it up, because I had never had a job out here at that time!!!! (Plus the number they had was my husband's cell.) I was sooo furious! Now, to partly get back at them (It's still the same front desk people.), before I have an appointment, starting two months out I'll call my gynecologist's office every two weeks to confirm my appointment, then when I get to one week, I'll call each day to confirm. Since I've been calling like that I haven't been bumped. The sad thing was they wouldn't even work me in! I even asked if someone had/would cancel in the meantime...they told me they were too busy to keep track of it! UGHHHH! So, I totally understand your frustration about appointments!
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meka
Full Member
Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jul 23, 2006 22:57:12 GMT -5
Errrgh! It IS incredibly frustrating. I have to wait an average of two months to see the gynecologist for routine appointments. I recently found out that at my hospital it can take only two weeks to see a male gynec. versus 2 months for a female. I've actually considered just showing up and seeing if they happen to have any availability for the rest of the afternoon. Sorry your coworkers and boss are so unsupportive. I am a teacher, and the staff is 90% female. Several of them have/have had reproductive-area related issues. Everyone is super supportive. In fact, they tell me to go home and get some rest when they see me walking in pain. Even the principal --- which is what we in America call the head of the school-- seems concerned. (Of course, if I leave in the middle of the day my pay gets docked! ) Too bad you can't change jobs! ;D
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Post by denna on Sept 3, 2006 23:42:42 GMT -5
hi
i can understand your frustruations. i'm not sure but i think this helps..try to be friends with one or 2 nurses ( provided they are not on rotation) at the clinic especially those making the appointment list as there are cases of reschedule appointment by other patient.she might thought of and put you in.good luck
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Post by Nari on Nov 7, 2006 0:09:27 GMT -5
HA! Don't even get me started on doctors. I can go on and on about appointment issues, misdaignosis, uncaring bedside manners..... but of course I am kinda fresh in the MORE ticked mode. Kinda like when one rubs salt in an open wound type ticked.
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Post by cherry on Nov 7, 2006 18:52:56 GMT -5
Just wanted to add that not allowing time off for hosp apps is illegal as far as I know, my last place woulda stopped me going during work time if they could, but they just made me feel crappy about it instead so that I didn't want to and changed consultants so my apps were always on my days off! The NHS (National Health Service) is a joke in the UK, once I have a bit of money put by I'll be going private. It's free, supported by 'National Insurance' which is like extra tax along with income tax, and yet the whole thing is in millions of pounds of debt. How? When it's run by the government? I had to wait since May this year until Jan next year for my first proper dental checkup with my new dentist. I have had some emergency work done but that's it!
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Post by ouchy on Nov 7, 2006 20:44:04 GMT -5
Just wanted to add that not allowing time off for hosp apps is illegal as far as I know ...Wish it were like that here in the U.S.!
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Post by akcheryl on Nov 12, 2006 20:22:16 GMT -5
I know that some doctors are not very good and do not possess the kind of caring attitude and bedside manner they should, but please do not blame all doctors. My husband is currently in medical school and knows from personal experience that doctors also face a lot of frustration with schedules, dealing with insurance companies (you'd be surprised about how much work doctors put in, with a lot of their fees being written off or just not paid by people who have no intention of paying their bills).
At least in the US, the AMA (American Medical Association) regulates how many students they allow in each medical school class, limiting the number of doctors who graduate each year and go on to practice. This has caused a state of medical emergency in many areas, and the doctors themselves have no control over it. It is extremely frustrating on both ends, for both patients and doctors.
Unfortunately, there are many doctors out there who aren't caring enough and who don't put in the extra legwork to find accurate diagnoses for their patients and get them the help they need. But there are also many doctors who do their job wonderfully. Luckily, there are those of us who have found those doctors. Hopefully the rest of you will be fortunate enough to find compassionate doctors as well.
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