Woman Sobs After Being Forced To Reschedule Doctor's Appointment For Next Year After Being 20 Minutes Late To Her Original Appointment
Commenters pointed out that doctors often show up nearly an hour late to their patients' appointments.
Julija Sulkovska | Shutterstock Most of us have been forced to sit in a doctor's office waiting room well past our appointment time, waiting as long as necessary for our name to be called.
Yet, when one woman mixed up her appointment time, making her 20 minutes late, she was sent away and made to reschedule for next year. In tears, she vented about the ordeal on social media, garnering mixed reactions.
The woman sobbed after being forced to reschedule her doctor’s appointment for next year after being 20 minutes late to her original appointment.
“I was 20 minutes late to my doctor's appointment because I got the time wrong,” Eva (@evasmellsbad) tearfully admitted. “I had the wrong time in my head.”
Eva, who suffers from chronic illness and uses a wheelchair, was devastated after she was turned away and her appointment was rescheduled for next year.
“I have so many tests [the doctor] was supposed to look over with me and my treatment plan … I just don't know what to do,” she stressed. “This appointment was so important, and I missed it by 20 minutes. I just want pain relief.”
Some commenters berated the woman for being late.
Eva was clearly frustrated with herself and the situation. "Great job, Eva, great job, healthcare system," she sarcastically captioned her video. Yet many viewers insisted she should have tried harder to be on time — some more kindly than others.
“When I have something important to do I set an alarm and double-check the time,” one TikTok user wrote.
Another added, "I would have been there an hour early. That's on you."
“As someone who has missed appointments, you have to just take this as a learning lesson,” a third commenter wrote. “Call and ask if to be called if there is a cancellation and start using a phone calendar.”
Other viewers sympathized with Eva’s frustrations.
It is undoubtedly irritating that patients are expected to wait well beyond their appointment time to see their doctor. Many TikTok users highlighted the double standard of physicians, who often show up 30 minutes — sometimes even an hour — late to their patients’ appointments and face zero consequences.
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“I love my psychiatrist but lord if medical professionals aren’t always almost hours late to their allotted fifteen-minute appointments…. so ridiculous and unfair,” one user noted.
"What makes me enraged about this is that I literally just went to an appointment right on time and I was waiting for 30 min," another commenter shared. "So they can be SUPER late but you can't even be a tiny bit late?"
Still, those in the medical field pointed out that doctors usually have valid reasons as to why they are running behind schedule.
Nicole Rochester, MD, who previously worked as a primary care pediatrician, revealed some of the main reasons your doctor might be late to your appointment on her blog, "GPS Doc."
To start, late patients set everyone else back for the remainder of the day. There are also times when non-scheduled patients who cannot wait to be seen are abruptly added in.
“The patient who calls the office complaining of a sore throat and is given an appointment two hours later is thrilled. But the patient who booked his appointment two months ago can’t understand why he has to wait 35 minutes to be seen," Rochester explained. "This problem has a snowball effect. One or two extra patients can completely disrupt the schedule and lead to delays.”
It is not uncommon for appointments to go over the allotted time, either.
“There is a running joke among physicians regarding the phrase, ‘Oh, by the way…’" Rochester wrote. "This phrase is typically exclaimed by a patient being seen for a minor problem, as the physician is preparing to exit the room, just as the doctor’s hand makes contact with the door handle."
“If the ‘Oh, by the way’ problem is not worrisome, the physician may ask the patient to schedule another appointment to ensure the concern is properly addressed," she continued. "But if the problem is chest pain or severe headache, for example, it cannot be ignored. You get the pattern, right? The doctor is now running late.”
Our time as patients is valuable, but so is that of our doctors and everyone who works in healthcare. While it's aggravating when they are late, in most cases, they are trying their best not to be.
Still, we certainly empathize with patients like Eva. Thankfully, she shared in a follow-up video that she was able to get an appointment in a matter of weeks instead of next year.
“Guess what? I'm gonna be on time to this one. I'm not gonna miss this one,” she insisted. “I’m gonna show up a day before and camp out just to make sure I don't miss this appointment.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.