How do we punish people who miss GP appointments?

What about someone with dementia? They may frequently forget appointments. They can't call in advance because they don't know that they've forgotten something.

It seems very unfair to ban someone from using a service because of a health condition that means that they forget about appointments.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Set a reminder on your phone, but yes there should be exceptions

Reply 21

Katty3

16

Original post by epic within

Set a reminder on your phone, but yes there should be exceptions

Many elderly people don't have smart phones. It was a general example of how a system of banning people from accessing a service could be unfair.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 22

moonkatt

19

Original post by epic within

Without punishing, people still going to miss appointments it costs £162m and missed hospital appointments cost £750m. If you put a fine for every missed appointment people may start to think twice before intentionally missing them.
We shouldn't be punishing people who have valid reasons to miss appointments, but those who don't should face fines. Theres no excuse, everybody has a phone and they can a set a reminder.

There are loads of reasons why people could forget about or miss their appointment. People forget things, the elderly, especially those with dementia, people who've been given life changing diagnoses don't take in all the information you give them. People who have long term conditions end up becoming acutely unwell to the point where they may not be able to leave the house or even end up being hospitalised. Investigating why people miss appointments in the first place rather than just slapping fines on people, who often will not have the surplus cash to pay them is a short term solution for a complex problem.

Reply 23

ImNotReallyMe

15

Original post by Lady Comstock

How do we punish people who miss GP appointments (without a reasonable excuse)?

Some say fines are unfair.

What do you think?

with mine, if you miss 3 appointments, you're taken off their list

I was there the other day, and on the screen they'd typed up the sentence wrong, they wrote something along the lines of

"if you fail to miss an appointment, your name will be taken off the list... "

I should've taken a picture and used it against them in case I ever missed appointments

Reply 24

Lady Comstock

OP

14

Original post by moonkatt

Instead of punishing people why don't we try and find out why people are missing appointments? Why don't we look into ways of getting people to appointments if they're struggling to get in, or not remembering? Why does the answer to everything have to be punishing people?

All very fluffy, but how do we stop the droves of people who miss appointments because they are lazy, can't be bothered, are hungover, etc.? Should they continue to get away with costing the NHS money and using up a valuable appointment? Not everyone who misses an appointment is doing because of some valid reason such as dementia.

Reply 25

Plagioclase

21

Original post by Gears265

I think we should immediately force them on to the organ donor list and fast forward their donation to the day of committing the crime

If this was anyone else I'd say they're making a joke...

Reply 26

Unkempt_One

13

Assuming punishing them is the only solution. Yeah no.

Reply 27

Katty3

16

Original post by Lady Comstock

All very fluffy, but how do we stop the droves of people who miss appointments because they are lazy, can't be bothered, are hungover, etc.? Should they continue to get away with costing the NHS money and using up a valuable appointment? Not everyone who misses an appointment is doing because of some valid reason such as dementia.

How do you sort out the people who just can't be arsed with going to appointments?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 28

moonkatt

19

Original post by Lady Comstock

All very fluffy, but how do we stop the droves of people who miss appointments because they are lazy, can't be bothered, are hungover, etc.? Should they continue to get away with costing the NHS money and using up a valuable appointment? Not everyone who misses an appointment is doing because of some valid reason such as dementia.

Do you have proof those are the main reasons people miss appointments? I've no doubt some people don't turn up to their appointments because they can't be arsed, however to assume that several million pounds worth of appointments are missed because of that is silly and to base a policy of billing people in a healthcare system that is free at the point of access on an assumption isn't how we do business in the NHS. Especially when it would involved adding yet more complex bureaucratic processes to a system that is far from simple anyway.

Reply 29

Gears265

5

Original post by Plagioclase

If this was anyone else I'd say they're making a joke...

That actually made me lol

Reply 30

Sephiroth

18

It doesn't surprise me that people miss appointments. You can wait up to 10 days for an appointment and by the time that comes around you probably don't need to see the GP any more. Of course that's no excuse for not ringing up and cancelling it, but many won't bother.

Reply 31

username457532

17

What annoys me is that you can be 5 minutes late to your appointment due to a traffic jam or a bus being late or not stopping for you and you have to make a new appointment, but doctors after often running more than half an hour late.

Reply 32

Tiger Rag

22

Original post by SmallTownGirl

What annoys me is that you can be 5 minutes late to your appointment due to a traffic jam or a bus being late or not stopping for you and you have to make a new appointment, but doctors after often running more than half an hour late.

its not always the doctors fault. Some appointments can take far longer than the allocated 10 minutes. Especailly if it's an emergency.

Reply 33

username457532

17

Original post by OU Student

its not always the doctors fault. Some appointments can take far longer than the allocated 10 minutes. Especailly if it's an emergency.

I understand that appointments can take longer, that's not my complaint. It's that if the doctor's behind I have to wait (whether I have things to do or not) but that if I get there slightly late I don't get to see the doctor.

It was when I had no choice but to take a 9am appointment (the receptionist said they were only allowed to give out the first appointment available) and I was late when the reason I went to see the GP was the same reason I struggle to get out of bed before about 10:30.