NHS (No Hope Service)

I sometimes despair.....

Yesterday, the Duchess called in at our local surgery to collect some paperwork I need for a pre-op assessment interview at the hospital next week. (that's ANOTHER story!)

Standing in front of the receptionist, she asked, since she was there, if she could make an appointment to see Dr Wood (because the Duchess is suffering from some pain in the hip, knee and ankle. It's making it difficult to walk.)

She was told that an appointment could not be made there and then but if she rang the surgery the next morning, after 8:00 a.m., then the receptionist would book her in to see Dr Wood on Thursday April 8th.

Why the hell couldn't the appointment be confirmed there and then!!??

When the Duchess told me about this farce, I said she should have told them she can't ring cos she doesn't have a phone. This apparently is no barrier to the system. If you don't have a phone, you present yourself at the surgery, after 8:00 a.m. and wait in the queue for an appointment date.

Yet there she was, standing in front of the receptionist, albeit in the middle of the afternoon and not at 8 the next morning, who obviously knows when the appointment can be made for, but it can't be confirmed.

At the start of this I said "Sometimes" ........... I should have said "Always"......... we are talking NHS after all.
(PS - this is not a dig at nurses or doctors, just the shit business managers who devise and insist on implemenattion of their ridiculous rules.)