Re: banned from calling the ambulance service in England and Wales.

On 22 Sep, 12:32, s_pickle2...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Sep 21, 11:20 am, Jethro <jethro...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:





On 21 Sep, 10:27, sk8terg1rl <sk8terg1rl_2...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Jethro wrote:
Hospitals seem to be more intent on looking after their own staff
then their patients. With work practices from the dark ages.

So it's the hospital staff's fault that she drunkenly assaulted and abused
them?

Interesting.

They must have had some culpability. You know the old saying, no smoke
without fire. You go into these places (like hospitals) and they are
almost hostile. Threats about what they will do to you if you put one foot
wrong and guff like that. I've had them hang the phone up on me for asking
a question which was not on their auto q. This country has gone right down
hill. You'd think they could handle someone under the influence or perhaps
they are all wimps and nasty with it

Last year, I was given an appointment for a test my consultant wanted
done on a new piece of kit. The letter came through, and I was
pleasantly surprised it was on a Saturday, albeit at a hospital the
other side of the region.

Got there, handed in my letter, and caused a flurry of activity behind
the desk. Was told to wait to be called. Waited 30 minutes, and was
called. Saw a doctor who wanted a recap of my case etc etc, and did
some basic tests. He then apologised, and said he couldn't understand
why I had been given the appointment for a Saturday, as the doctor and
machine I needed were only in on Tuesday.

Having had an entire Saturday wasted, and being told that I had to
come in on a Tuesday (i.e time off work - at short notice), how calm
and collected would *you* be ?

Hi Jethro,

Of course this sucks, but I think your anger towards the *medical*
staff is misplaced.

I was fuming, but well aware of that. Indeed the doctor thanked me for
being so understanding ...

If the doctor and the equipment were available, do you not think they
wouldn't hesitate to treat you?

Of course

Your annoyance should be directed towards the bureaucracy: the admins,
paper shufflers, bean counters and other jobsworths, who parasitise
taxpayer money yet cause the system to deliver less than it was
intended to due to increased inefficiency.

A fact the doctor reminded me of - in stronger terms than I would have
(his words were quite unprintable !). However, mysteriously, *no one*
from the administrative staff works on Saturday. Well that's what I
was told.

And then we hit the Soviet-Style kafka-esqueness of the NHS. Write a
letter, make a phone call. Repeat until you reach someone who claims
to be *responsible*. If you're lucky enough to get that far make you
complaint. Recieve platitudes. Watch in amazement as f*** all is done.

If *I* had failed to turn up for the appointment, I would have been
fined 25quid, and been removed from the consultants list. I often
smile when I see the warnings about fines for late appearances - why
can't it cut both ways, I wonder ?

You should point out to them that they cannot fine you, they only
charge you for their actual losses (see bank charges). If they make
you wait, you should charge them for your time at the same rate. As it
is unlikely that a doctor would not have another patient to see, if
you were late, or missed an appointment, they would have no loss. Once
a companyt hreatened me with some ridiculous charges if I were not at
home to let their repairman in. When he did not show up I invoiced the
company for the same amount, and to my surprise, they paid up. Try it
with the NHS next time.-

you were lucky. AIUI, you can't charge for lost time ... since this
appointment was on a Saturday, and I didn't have to take a day off
work, there was no loss to me. Similarly, if it had been during a
weekday, then I would have been expected to mitigate my losses by
taking a holiday.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Patient-dumping on Skid Row investigated
    ... for the non-paying patients who got into the hospital through ... these ambulance rides are initially free for the ... since the hospital cannot charge anyone. ... since hospitals have a hard time ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Re: Been Busy Very OT:-)
    ... > I was once given a 28 week appointment to see a specialist. ... > patients on the phone" I found the consultants secretary from the NHS ... habits of the locals will improve sufficiently so that vegetables are a ... experience of German hospitals ...
    (uk.sport.horseracing)
  • Who foots the bill for medical mistakes?
    ... Who foots the bill for medical mistakes? ... hospitals across the country have joined a growing movement ... not to charge patients or their insurers for serious, ... While it's not clear how many patients are charged for hospital ...
    (misc.health.alternative)
  • News of TNMF: PatientLine FAQ comes to the rescue
    ... At some hospitals patients aged 60 and over get two days TV for the price of one. ... Making a call costs as little as 10p a minute (minimum call charge 20p). ... Calls to the bedside cost 39p per minute off-peak and 49p at all other times. ...
    (uk.media.radio.archers)
  • Re: Doctors appointments?
    ... I've been trying to get an appointment to see my doc, ... One of our local hospitals used to book 200 patients for the same time, ... It was in fact a court order ...
    (uk.legal)