Playing the waiting game with doctors

For more than a month now, I have been in and out of hospitals, doctor’s clinics and laboratories for check ups, first for myself, and then for my father-in-law. Even while vacationing in Batangas, we still had to have Tatay Haning checked. One thing I have noticed in all those visits to hospitals, clinics and laboratories is that most often than not, patients are made to wait, not just for a few minutes but for hours!

Take for example that doctor we visited in Lemery, Batangas for Tatay’s check up. The doctor’s clinic hours, according to the sign on the door to his clinic, are from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. When we got there at about 8:30 a.m., the clinic was already overflowing with patients and the waiting area was unbearably hot. Tatay was the 18th patient on the list. Two hours passed and the doctor was nowhere to be found. The secretary said he is still doing his rounds at a nearby hospital. By 11:30 a.m., we were told that the doctor was on his way. After four hours and thirty minutes of waiting, the doctor finally arrived at about 12 noon. So much for the 9 a.m. to 12 noon clinic hours!

I also played the waiting game with the sonologist/OB-Gyne at one of the laboratories here in Cebu. The laboratory’s staff, who answered the phone when I inquired about the schedule, said that they start ultrasounds at 9 a.m. My husband and I went to the laboratory at 8 a.m. the next day, hoping that I will finish the procedure early so we can catch my OB-Gyne whose clinic hours are from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The sonologist arrived at 11 a.m. We waited for three hours!

I don’t understand why doctors make their patients wait for so long. A few minutes, or even 30 minutes waiting time is okay. But making patients wait for an hour or more is already being inconsiderate. Why do they advertise clinic hours when they don’t follow these anyway? What if the patient is not feeling well and has to be attended to right away? Or what if the patient has other things to do?

My OB-Gyne, Dr. Mei Ye Alguire is a very considerate doctor. She holds clinics at CUPSI from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and at Hi-Precision Tabunok at 2 to 5 p.m. I once visited her at Hi-Precision Tabunok at 1:30 p.m. and she was already there and when I got busy and had to have my check up at CUPSI, I found her ready to accept patients at 10 a.m. sharp! My kids’ pediatrician, Dr. Miraflor Bas-Bucao, who was my grade school classmate and schoolmate at Velez College, is also a very considerate doctor. Her clinic hours are at 10 a.m. to 12 noon and she is already in her clinic at 10:30! Maybe other doctors could learn from Dr. Alguire’s and Dr. Bucao’s sense of time.

I once dreamt of becoming a doctor and even took Medical Technology so I understand that doctors are busy people. In fact, they are on call 24/7. But doctors must also remember that their patients have other things to do besides waiting for them. Making patients wait for an hour or more is such a disservice, especially since these people pay for the services of doctors.

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I received an email from Alexander Uy two weeks ago regarding my column on the LBC ad. This is what he had to say: “I agree very much with you on your column today, The Freeman, May 17, that this LBC ad is really in bad taste. I hope the people responsible should take out this ad. more power!” Good friend Roger also sent an email through Facebook, which said: “Spell ‘remittance.’ Spell ‘instant.’ Spell ‘chuvahchuchu.’ he-he! parehas tag sentiment. edu should have hesitated a moment then said: ‘pwede na’ instead of ‘tumpak.’ minus sa nagsuwat sa storyboard.”

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