Mild SC at the doctors

[Valentinian]

I needed to go to the doctor the other day, and ended up going on Tuesday the 2nd because my local medical centre had a holiday surcharge on Sunday and Monday. Turns out that was a bad idea, because a lot of people who wanted to go to the doctor last week assumed they were closed (they weren't) and waited until Tuesday too.

I come prepared with things to read etc, so I wasn't too bothered that I had to wait, and I was finding the older couple sitting next to me mildly amusing. There was a steady dribble of discontented comments from them about what was on the TV in the waiting room, what was in the magazines they were reading, their relatives and how they'd behaved at Christmas, how their car was running, the fact that their preferred mechanic was booked up... I was getting the distinct impression that they weren't happy with anything. Then they started griping about the wait, and the woman mentioned their original appointment time - fifteen minutes after mine.

Woman: It's been an hour! ...Did you go up to the desk and check in when we arrived?

The man got a sudden horrified look on his face and hurried up to the desk, so I'm pretty sure he hadn't.

Me:

He came back and sat down again, and the griping moved on to Those Horrible People Walking In To Get A Prescription, It's All Their Fault Things Are Running So Late. And then he got called in... to the doctor I was waiting to see... before me. So he got jumped up the queue because he complained.

Me:

[protege]

Me:

He might not have been seen right away though. Maybe they just stuck him in an empty room so he'd shut up?

[dalesys]

He might not have been seen right away though. Maybe they just stuck him in an empty room so he'd shut up?

Chloroform, stat!

[Valentinian]

He might not have been seen right away though. Maybe they just stuck him in an empty room so he'd shut up?

Nope, we don't do the thing where a nurse sticks you in a room and then you wait some more (which I gather is common/ubiquitous in the U.S.?) except at some specialists. At my medical centre the doctor pops out of their room and calls your name and your appointment starts right then.

[workerbee222]

Clearly, nothing was going to make them happy. on the other hand...

Requiring patients to make an appointment and routinely keeping them waiting an hour after that = bad office management. Sometime emergencies happen, but I experienced an office that operated like this, and I lightened his burden by moving to a better run office.

[protege]

Nope, we don't do the thing where a nurse sticks you in a room and then you wait some more (which I gather is common/ubiquitous in the U.S.?) except at some specialists.

Ah. It's pretty common to do that here. Just about every doctor or specialist I've been to does that. You'll sit in the waiting room, complete with seriously outdated magazines and daytime talk shows on TV, only to get shuffled into a smaller room to wait some more. Most times, I'll take a magazine to pass the time.

The *only* time I've ever been pissed about the wait was last year when I had the kidney stones. Trust me, they suck donkey balls. I couldn't sit, couldn't stand, and couldn't even lie down. After walking up and down the nearby hallway, and continuing to wait, I lost it. I mean really, it's 9AM, the parking lot and waiting room are empty. What the hell is going on? I'm in pain dammit! Gimme my painkillers!

[Valentinian]

Clearly, nothing was going to make them happy. on the other hand...

Requiring patients to make an appointment and routinely keeping them waiting an hour after that = bad office management. Sometime emergencies happen, but I experienced an office that operated like this, and I lightened his burden by moving to a better run office.

Oh, it's very definitely not routine! It was just mad busy that day (all the people who put off going for a week because they assumed the clinic was closed instead of checking). Normally you get in either right at your appointment time or very shortly after. I wouldn't stay if delays like that happened all the time either!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Nope, we don't do the thing where a nurse sticks you in a room and then you wait some more (which I gather is common/ubiquitous in the U.S.?) except at some specialists. At my medical centre the doctor pops out of their room and calls your name and your appointment starts right then.

This is common practice here in the US . . . once you're called back, you're placed in a room after your vitals are checked (blood pressure/weight/temperature) and then you wait some more for either a PA or the doctor to come in. Depends on what you're being seen for, though.

At my orthopedic's office, if I'm complaining of pain in a joint or extremity, it's off to the X-ray department for a quick picture (or two or three, depends on what Dr. K wants) then I'm shuffled into a room to wait for him to come and talk with me about what's he's seen on the pics and get the diagnosis.

Family doctor: wait in a room until either a nurse comes in for a blood/urine samples, then more waiting for the doctor to talk with her and get examined.

Either way, you're waiting more than anything even after you're called to the back out of the waiting area.