Disrespect for our health care system

Today, while sitting waiting for an annual procedure, which involves booking several months in advance, I noticed a sign on the wall at the Prince County Hospital that stated for the previous month of February, there had been 160 patients who had not shown up for their medical procedures.

This notice was in the imaging department and I asked the technician about it. She said of those 160 patients, All of them had been telephoned and reminded about their appointment.

This 160 patients was the statistic for only one department. If you multiply the number of departments in our hospital by 160, that is a huge number of inconsiderate people who are treating our Health Care System with so much disrespect.

Not only is it disrespectful to the health care providers who have planned their day around you but it is also disrespectful to the possibly hundreds of other potential patients who are waiting to get an appointment. We hear so much about waiting times to have procedures done and yet, in this one department alone, an additional 160 patients could have been attended to in the month of February.

This practice of missing appointments without notifying the hospital is just wrong. It affects so many people and affects the costs of our health care system. Perhaps the government should impose a fine for those who do not either cancel their appointment or advise the department that they will not be able to make the appointment. These irresponsible actions of inconsiderate people are costing all of us thousands of dollars daily.

Janice Holmes Summerside