"Long wait at Hand Clinic"

I was an outpatient at Sydney Hospital when I fractured my wrist. Whilst the Outpatients care was excellent and the wait was not too long I was surprised with the very lengthy waiting times for my two follow up appointments at the Hand Clinic.

The first follow up appointment I was asked to be there in the morning. I presented early and there was a queue of about 20 people. We were left standing in the queue that was not moving for 30 minutes with no explanation! It was only when I asked that I was told the computers were down. It took 30 minutes for staff to go back to the old fashioned way and hand out green numbered cards in order of arrival. It should not have taken that long for cards to be handed out.

My second follow up appointment, I arrived for my mid-morning timeslot. At that point I was told there would be a 1-2 hours wait! I waited two and a half hours before being seen, then had an x-ray before waiting another hour to see the hand physio for a new cast. Four and a half hours in total.

Whilst I understand the need to prioritise I don't understand why people going to follow up appointments should be kept so long especially when they have been given a time slot that is apparently meaningless. New cases presenting that day requiring longer diagnosis and care should be separate to the follow up appointments.

I would also like to comment on the reception at Outpatients (not the triage nurse) that I felt was not friendly, didn't offer a smile and barely looked at me. The same happened when I checked in on the ground level for an x-ray. I am a person, not a Medicare number.