What has become of good manners?

I type for medical doctors as you will know from reading prior posts on my Blog. This morning I am reminded of how often people fail to phone a doctor's office to notify them that they are not going to be able to make it to a scheduled appointment. It doesn't take a lot of effort to do this, but some people seem to feel no responsibility to do so.

An even worse scenario is when someone no-shows for surgery. This is a problem that affects all of society with the long wait times being an issue that many of us are concerned about in British Columbia. Nothing is mentioned by the sensation-seeking media about this issue.

When someone fails to phone to cancel or rearrange an appointment, it affects all of us negatively. It makes a fit-in appointment for another patient impossible, thus cheating another potential patient of his/her chance to get medical help. It cheats the doctor of his valuable time, as he can do nothing much to fill in that time. I suppose he or she can make a phone call or shuffle papers, but it is very annoying to have one's time wasted in this way.

I hear people commenting that doctors "double-book" appointments, which is, in fact, a falsehood. I have never seen a doctor do this. What they do it book appointments for 10 minutes each, as many problems do not require more than 10 minutes. A good diagnostician can diagnose a problem after a few brief questions are answered and a quick exam is done. He/she can prescribe treatment very rapidly - be in a lab test, an x-ray, a quick in-office procedure, or a prescription for a drug or ointment. If more time is needed, the doctor will reschedule a followup appointment that will last from 10 to 20 or 30 mintues according to the need.

Patients who no-show and do not have the courtesy to phone either before or after the failure to attend a medical appointment have no excuse. If their reason was beyond their control, it doesn't take much effort to phone or drop by to explain why they did not attend and to apologise for the inconvenience caused to others.