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My family doctor in Ontario Canada sent a referral for me to see a specialist in the same city almost 2 months ago and I still never received the appointment date to see this specialist. I phoned the specialist's office and the secretary confirmed they did receive this referral from my doctor in Sept. by fax. I then asked her how many more days should it take for me to receive the appointment date and she said she did not know.
Usually how long does it take for a specialist to arrive at the appointment date? Shouldn't it take a specialist no more than 48 hours to arrive at the appointment date for a patient especially when his Rate your MD site shows hes accepting new patients? I don't understand how it can take him almost 2 months and the doctor still never arrived at the appointment date for me to see him. Doesn't that specialist have the patient list in front of him the time he received my referral by fax in order for him to arrive at the next possible date for me to see him based on urgency which should take the doctor like minutes to arrive at an appointment date but no more than 2 days? There are patients like me that need to know in advance what the appointment date will be. Or is it possible he did arrive at the date but will have it mailed to my address closer to the actual date of the appointment if it happens to be 2 or 4 or more months from now, then that would explain why I didn't receive the appointment date yet?
I'm not asking to see this specialist within 2 months after the referral was sent. i'm just asking to receive the appointment date. I think the medical care system needs to make a change and set a time limit as to how many days it should take a doctor or specialist to arrive at the appointment date based on their patient list and the time they receive the referral.
I'm not asking to see this specialist within 2 months after the referral was sent. i'm just asking to receive the appointment date. I think the medical care system needs to make a change and set a time limit as to how many days it should take a doctor or specialist to arrive at the appointment date based on their patient list and the time they receive the referral.
Maybe they are backed up and don’t have any slots.
Maybe they are backed up and don’t have any slots.
I still can't see how he was not able to arrive just at the date of the appointment at almost 2 months now. Maby I need to contact a higher department and have them ask the specialist directly as to how many more days it should take to arrive at the appointment date. Isn't there some policy against a doctor taking too long just to arrive at an appointment date? Shouldn't that higher department review that doctor's patient list and my referral? I may have to file a complaint and keep on escalating it because patients have the right to receive the appointment date within a reasonable amount of time and not take over 2 months. And what if 4 or 6 months pass and he still did not arrive at an appointment date? How is that possible when that doctor has the list of patients in front of him in order to arrive at appointments for each and every patient? How can that take 2, 4 to 6 months when it should take minutes? Maby this doctor needs the help of a computer to arrive at a date since hes not able to. I think I may need to make this known to a higher department and so on and so on until its resolved.
In total fairness, the medical board should make it policy for all doctors and specialists to provide their patient list (not necessarily the patient's names but the reason why they seek a doctor) and precisely how the doctors arrive at all their appointment dates for each and every patient based on their urgency. This information should be available for review at any time by the medical board especially when a patient has now waited almost 2 months with no appointment date. Maby I will make that policy by making this known by escalating this to higher departments within the medical system if not resolved to my liking, because all i'm asking for is to receive the appointment date within a reasonable time.
Your health is subsidized by the government so there are long wait times. In USA it’s the next day usually.
Well here in the US, my wife was referred to a specialist for her back, 6 weeks to see him, after reviewing the X-rays and MRI, surgery was recommended. Next available date was mid January, 2023. Mind you this was early October.
Yesterday I saw a Dermatologist, appointment made....mid September.
On my last check up in September our GP found a heart irregularity, Our Cardiologist was booked until January of next year, finally found one in Birmingham with only a two month wait.
Next Day.....What planet are you from! Ask any Canadian if they would trade their healthcare system for the one in the US.
Thanks for the advice. Can I also post this thread in the Canada forum (or can this thread be moved there if not an inconvenience) since they may know how long it usually takes a doctor to arrive at an appointment date in Canada? and why would it take almost 2 months with no appointment date made when he has the patient's list in front of his face for all that time??
Your health is subsidized by the government so there are long wait times. In USA it’s the next day usually.
I'm in the US and referrals for me have not been the next day. I've been waiting 3 weeks for an appointment to be scheduled from my referral. It's one of those don't call us, we'll call you things.
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