Clinic lateness
The organisation is fully committed to running to schedule and, should this not be the case, patients will be advised at the earliest opportunity as to the reasons why and the expected duration of the delay. Reasons for delay may be, but are not limited to:
- Medical emergencies
- Complex routine appointments overrunning
- Delay in staff arriving due to external factors beyond their control
- Administrative error by a patient or staff member
In all cases, reception staff must advise patients accordingly.
Management of waiting patients
Should staff note a patient has been waiting for more than 20 minutes, they should apologise to the patient, explaining the reason(s) for the delay. In the case of an administrative error, the administration team should advise the clinician of this and confirm the patient did not arrive late for their appointment.