Truant patients rubbish 41½ hours of appointments during Halifax doctors clinic

At a time when many Nova Scotians are unfortunate to find a family physician, one hospital says an shocking series of a patients take for postulated they have entrance to a doctor and simply skip their appointments.

The emanate comes adult so often, a Duffus Health Centre in Halifax is fighting back. It’s posting a sum series of no-shows any month and even going so distant as to glow patients who are repeat offenders.

In August, 118 appointments were missed. That’s a homogeneous of 41½ hours — or an whole week worth of medicine appointments.

“The volume of time and resources that is spent for these people and afterwards they don’t uncover up, and afterwards they consternation what’s wrong with their health? That’s why,” said Angela Smith, a manager of a clinic. 

“Then there are people who are unfortunate to be seen and they can’t get in. It’s frustrating.”

That’s usually a no-shows with no excuse. The series doesn’t embody those who cancel, or who offer an excusable reason for their absence.

“When we hear on a news all a time that people are crapping on a government, crapping on a doctors, a patients have to take responsibility,” Smith said. “People have to be accountable for their possess health. They have to start noticing that they’re partial of a problem.”

The Duffus Health Centre posts a series of missed appointments any month. (Carolyn Ray/CBC)

The series of appointments missed in Aug is indeed a dump from a month before. Jul saw 133 missed appointments during a clinic.

The Duffus Health Centre has 10 physicians, a amicable worker, dual family use nurses and a psychiatrist. Those physicians are not all full time. They also share avocation during a walk-in clinic.

‘Tip of a iceberg’

Dr. Andrea McDonald, a family medicine during a clinic, pronounced it’s not usually a Duffus Health Centre that struggles with absenteeism.

“That’s usually a tip of a iceberg,” she said. “There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t accept presentation for people not display adult for evidence imaging appointments, dilettante appointments.”

McDonald pronounced she’s listened a prolonged list of excuses, from travel issues to a bustling work day. But a many common is a weather: It’s snowing, raining or simply sunny.

McDonald and Smith contend what’s baffling is that a hospital offers a 24-hour termination phone line.

The law-breaker patients means a domino effect. If a appointments were cancelled, a doctors could provide someone on a wait-list who is concerned to get in faster than a stream three-week wait.

Angela Smith, a manager of a Duffus Health Centre, is so fed adult with no shows she’s tracking a numbers. In August, patients missed 41½ hours of appointments. (Carolyn Ray/CBC)

The staff are so frustrated they’re promulgation warning letters to repeat offenders and dismissing those who have 3 strikes opposite them.

“That’s a tough thing for a family medicine to do,” pronounced McDonald. “We know these people. We know a several factors that are going on in their life. We also are some-more and some-more noticing a impact this has on a ability to broach timely heath care.”

New studious no shows

What is many surprising, however, is that 5 of those no-shows were new patients supposed off a province’s 811 wait-list.

Those patients are automatically removing a boot and have been sent behind to a bottom of a list, that is now 54,915 names long.

“It’s flattering sad,” pronounced Smith.

The hospital usually offers reminders for a specialty appointments, not for medicine checkups.

Taking on that effort would cost a hospital financially and would take some-more time from already bustling staff, pronounced McDonald.

“Lots of people will say, ‘You didn’t remind me of a appointment.’ Well, whose health caring is this?” a medicine said. “Put your appointment in your phone.”

Article source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/truant-patients-waste-41-hours-of-appointments-at-halifax-doctors-clinic-1.4804967?cmp=rss