"I was dealt with quickly and professionally"

I attended ward 16 woodend hospital today for a pre surgery assessment.

The service I received was lovely, I was dealt with quickly and professionally by everyone throughout. Thank you for this.

However, there was an incident in the waiting room which made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

A fellow patient arrived very late for their appointment. They were immediately told they could not be seen that day and would need to reschedule their appointment.

Now, I appreciate that such occurrences are difficult to manage in busy clinics, and it may have been impossible to fit the person in question in later in the schedule but, I just felt that a quick welfare check would have been kinder before turning them away.

They may have been let down by public transport, had children acting out whilst trying to get them to childcare, had to walk a long way because bus fares are too expensive, been stuck in traffic, had car trouble or had a condition which meant reading the appointment letter was difficult.

We do not know what mountains people have had to climb, unless we ask. The person was clearly upset, but left the waiting room thanking the receptionist for a repeat appointment.

It may not have been possible to change the outcome with a different approach but I just felt that if they were someone walking into my department, I would want to check they were ok, and hear their story, before informing them they could not be seen. It may be that all this was done elsewhere, later but it was not done before the person was informed, immediately they appeared in the waiting room, that they were too late.