"Long Delay in ENT outpatient with no communication"

Appointment time 11am. Arrived, registered and reported to correct department in good time for my appointment. I was not informed of any delay to the clinic and there was no wait time given on the whiteboard which is provided for this purpose. 45 minutes after my appointment time I enquired with the nurse or HCA (sorry not sure which) how much longer the wait would be and they informed me that 4 patients were due in before me. As they only seemed to be seeing patients every 20-30 minutes that would have meant a minimum of another 120 minutes so in total I would have had to wait anywhere upward from 2 hours for my appointment (and that is being conservative).

I do not feel this is an acceptable waiting time, it could have been approaching 3 hours.

I requested to be rebooked but at this point cannot say if that will happen.

There is a lesson which is to be taken from this and one which is common knowledge within the NHS. Please remind your staff the importance of the 6 C's and specifically Communication.

Maybe next time I will see a change, I don't have unrealistic expectations of being seen exactly on appointment time, but to have such a long wait and not being advised of it is completely unacceptable.