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Don’t keep them waiting!

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Patients are spending too much time in the waiting room, and less time getting the treatment they desire.

As a patient, you don’t expect to be sitting in the waiting room, alongside those who are coughing, sitting with a sick bag or next to a screaming baby. Now, I don’t mean to sound rude, but it really isn’t acceptable to be expected to wait around for over 20 minutes, just to be told “you have flu, my dear”. Yes, I understand doctors are busy with their patients and they don’t mean for this is happen, however, it’s clear that it does, and from my point of view, it happens too often.

Just a quick question for the doctors: Why don’t you give yourself time? You shouldn’t be rushed off your feet just as much as your patients shouldn’t have to wait around too long. Is it too much to ask that you give yourself a little gap between each appointment? We don’t want to be in the waiting room overtime, just as much as you don’t want to be in your office overtime!

Now, I know what you’re thinking, and no, it isn’t just doctors, in fact compared to A&E, doctor surgeries are doing pretty well I guess. Accident and emergency departments were found to be under much greater pressure than other doctors and hospital services. Now, when I heard this, it didn’t surprise me but I did ask myself why?

For example, how often do you go to the doctors? Once a month maybe? Statistics say that women visit a GP 43% more often than men do! However, men visit the local A&E more frequently compared to women. It is a known fact that women are regular visitors because they have to deal with pregnancy, contraception and, I suppose some women just have a need to make sure everything is okay more than men. However, men who take part in sport often find themselves head to toe in cuts, bruises and potentially broken bones and of course, in the waiting room at the nearest hospital.

The sad fact is, if you’re someone who either visits the doctors due to a cold, or if you go to the hospital because you have a sore wrist, you may be the one clogging the waiting rooms. Sometimes, I wonder if those who go to the doctors so often really need to be there.

We also need to remember that those who diagnose our problems also have the ability of getting ill too! It seems that we forget that they are actually people and not robots!
Added Thursday 13th March 2014 by Ashley