You’re the receptionist. What would you have done?

No, I would defintely not have waited.

Presumably OP is looking for support and agreement with her interpretation of events.
We cannot possibly know the details of the situation and let’s face it, it’s over so why dwell on it?
But to “leave a taxi running” ??? Presumably waiting by arrangement but not with the meter running - but whatever, hopelessly optimistic even delusional to expect to be in and out.
That said, when at my last 2 hospital appointments for a procedure and a check up , I had arrived early, was seen early and in one case was back at my car in the multi storey at the time I was due to be seen.
But it’s the luck of the draw.

I know that when DH was in practice he would not have liked his receptionist telling him who he was going to see next.

When you book in with the receptionist (or machine on the wall) the consultant will automatically have been made aware that you are in the waiting room. They will have a list of the patients they are seeing that day. So I’ve always thought it is the consultant not the receptionist who decide which patient they are seeing first. Same applies at the local GPs.

welbeck

Fuss over nothing.
If this is the NHS always expect to wait. Your error was in keeping a taxi running.

Absolutely this, I can't believe anyone would do this. I usually wait for ages both at the hospital and at the doctors, you expect that, but I am very glad to be given the time I need myself, so why should others not have that too. I think you are being unreasonable. You have no idea of the circumstances the late patient experienced. She could be a carers with huge responsibilities desperately trying to get to a much needed appointment. Don't judge when you do not know anything about the situation. Be grateful you were seen and hopefully got the time you deserved. Book a taxi when you finish in future.

Fuss over nothing.
If this is the NHS always expect to wait. Your error was in keeping a taxi running.

Depends - perhaps the consultant had a patient with him and that person left after the 'late' patient arrived in which case I would have let the late patient in first. I would not automatically have let you go just because you arrived first. Obviously if the late patient hadn't come by the time the docs previous patient left then I would have asked you to go in.
frustrating for you when you had a taxi waiting but so might the other person.

You weren't ushered in at your appointment time five minutes after your arrival so I presume the tardy patient had telephoned ahead to explain why she was late. There are lots of variables here. No offence but was she more seriously ill than you , so needed the appointment more ? Did the Consultant influence the management of these two appointments for medical reasons?
I'd expect a protocol for managing this sort of situation to be defined in the practice.
If it was left entirely to my discretion I'd have sent you in on time and let her wait.

I would have let the punctual patient/s go in first, and make the late one wait. I rely on a bus to get to my local hospital, and once the bus broke down and I was lquite late. The made me wait until everyone else that morning had been seen, and I went in last. I think that was to stop other people who were on time, getting annoyed. It felt a bit like a punishment for something that wasn't my fault - but I begrudgingly accepted it.

Would the Dr not have buzzed for next patient or listed a patient on a screen in waiting room. If person didn't go through to Dr then the Dr could have moved to next patient. Difficult to judge receptionists actions.

At our local hospital you are given an appt time but are seen in order of arrival. A cunning plan.

jude2006

The lady could have had trouble parking, which can be a nightmare for some people. The doctor was probably grateful to catch up on some of his cases. I don't think that waiting 15mins or even 30mins is at all long, many of us have to wait much longer.

Ours is always late so I land a couple of minutes before an appointment. Take my phone & catch up with emails, gransnet or whatever 😊 The nurse is always Bob on with his appointments times I am happy to add.

Having been a consultants secretary I have been in this position. I would have let the consultant know that you had arrived and that the earlier patient had not yet booked in. Then it is for the consultant, not the secretary or receptionist, to decide when he/she takes the patient in. Perhaps the earlier patient had already informed the clinic of their delay. In any case, the consultant makes the decision.

watermeadow

You still have receptionists? How quaint! Ours have become Patient Navigators so we can feel really advanced and woke. Or so we can laugh at this term.

We have now have three lovely receptionists after having two battle axes for receptionists for years- glad when they retired.

The lady could have had trouble parking, which can be a nightmare for some people. The doctor was probably grateful to catch up on some of his cases. I don't think that waiting 15mins or even 30mins is at all long, many of us have to wait much longer.

Maybe the Consultant took the time to have a coffee break?

Plevey08

MT63... That or a wee dram 🤣

Ha yes 😂

The receptionist should have replied something else but "the patient was running late"

It is the doctor's who prioritize who is seen, not tbe receptionist.
Maybe it was an emergency? Last minute appointment?

Doctors are also known to run behind their schedule.

I’d let the receptionist and doctor make that decision, who knows what the doctor was prepping to see?

The consultant wouldn’t know anything about taxis etc. they would simply look at their appointment schedule and see patients in that order.
It is always wise to allow plenty of time at any medical appointment because some patients might very run, the doctor might have to attend to an emergency or a patient might collapse in the surgery at which point they become an emergency.

It's probably not the receptionist making that decision. They may have certain policies and procedures but the entire office follows.

You still have receptionists? How quaint! Ours have become Patient Navigators so we can feel really advanced and woke. Or so we can laugh at this term.

I was a doctors receptionist/administrator for 8 years and we never waited for a patient, its in the doctors interest to see the next patient waiting , sometimes the doctor has to go through notes etc before the patient arrives and these notes can arrive just before the patient arrives, a situation may have arisen that made the patient late and the doctor was going through the reason,
The receptionist never has the power to hold you for 15 minutes, they would have notified the doctor you were waiting,

We tend to arrive early for appointments. At the GP's surgery they're often running late and we have to wait. However, we've often gone in early to see consultants, although there was one notable occasion when he was an hour behind. When we got to see him, he looked very tired and relieved to get to the end of his list!

It's quite possible that she had something urgent going on.

I never complain about long waits at the GP.
It seems to me that the GPs I like best are never in a hurry.