Fifteen minutes to see a free doctor! This Rolls Royce isn't moving fast enough! I asked a British friend - someone who has ongoing health issues and sees a lot of doctors - if old people complaining like this was common. As an American, I almost laughed out loud. On two occasions I noticed old people complaining angrily (and rudely) to the office staff that they had been made to wait 15 or 20 minutes to see their doctor. These are not the old people I'm referring to. Nothing ever happens promptly on the day in US healthcare, as far as I can tell. I often wonder if Time and Newsweek were such big magazines in the US because they're needed for bored patients in American doctors' waiting rooms.
In the US, I expect to wait up to an hour in the specialist's waiting room on the day of my appointment. The big lesson with the NHS is, it's a lot easier to just show up when you're told. It was that appointment system again: You're booked in according to their priority, not yours. Thomas' had an online system for this, but they don't - just a bunch of people answering phones, most of whom don't have access to the right appointment schedule. I had to call a few times, basically to catch the hospital booking staff at the right time of day, in order to do it. Ultimately, I also needed to change my appointment because I had to leave the country on business, and this was quite difficult to do. I comforted myself with the assumption that the staff had made a decision that my condition was likely not health-threatening, and had moved me to the back of the line. NHS waiting times are a real thing, it turns out. I was going deaf now - not in six weeks! What the hell?! In the UK, they said "we'll see you in January." It was late November, six weeks or more away. The entire US pharmaceutical industry is also dedicated to running ads encouraging people to "go see your doctor" for even the most trivial of conditions. I've never seen any kind of public campaign to persuade patients to apply some common sense before dropping themselves off at an emergency room. The US never discourages patients from doing anything. But still, it's a culture shock to see a medical institution put up signs that basically say, "go home, you idiot!" in every waiting room. And hospitals and doctor's surgery waiting rooms are a hotbed of germs. It's sensible - everyone knows that a vast amount of hospital time and money is wasted treating people who are not an emergency. They're actively discouraging patients with minor ailments from seeking emergency treatment, and trying to get them to see their regular doctors instead. The NHS actively discourages some types of patients: Interestingly, NHS offices and hospitals have posters up all over the place warning you not to show up at the emergency room if you have a cold or the flu. THE NHS ACTIVELY DISCOURAGES SOME PATIENTS - FOR GOOD REASON There was no choice over appointment times - the assumption is that if you're ill, you're going to come to the doctor when they say. (You've got to take the call in a private place if you don't want your office mates to hear.) Then they said: Come in at 9am on Thursday. Within an hour or two a nurse practitioner called me back and asked me a few questions about my problem over the phone. In the UK, I was given an appointment whether I liked it or not. Usually, you can pick an appointment time that's convenient for you if it is not an emergency. But basically, it's first come, first served, regardless of how important it is. They might ask you what's wrong with you, presumably to make sure it's not something that requires immediate treatment. In America, you call your doctor and request an appointment when it's convenient for you. Thomas' Hospital in London on November 24. NHS workers hold placards as they stand on a picket line demanding higher pay, outside St. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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