Manx Care new appointments letter system

[TheTeapot]

10 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

Fair enough, but I would hazard a guess that puts you in the minority.

People should be given the option.  I very rarely open post because there is never anything of any importance in it.  Anything we need comes by email.

It might well put me in the minority, and totally get it. The future is here and I'm not all that keen.

It's the same with school, I'd rather read a screwed up letter retrieved from the bottom of the kids bag 3 days late cos he forgot to give it to me than an email from the school. 

I'd rather have an actual boarding card for a flight than an qr code on my phone. I want a paper ticket for the train.

The idea of talking to 'siri' or 'alexa' is foul to me. I dislike it intensely. Everything has an app, I don't want an app. I write stuff down, with a pen.

I'm not even all that old.

[The Voice of Reason]

1 hour ago, CrazyDave said:

People should be given the option.  I very rarely open post because there is never anything of any importance in it.

Never anything of importance in it. Really? 

My renewed driving licence came by post the other day. Still a physical thing.

What about wedding/ party invitations, cards of condolence etc?. 

Legal documents etc that require a written signature.

In the last couple of years, because of my age I have been invited to send a sample of my pooh in an envelope in the post for examination for possible bowel/prostrate cancer.  That could be pretty important. Couldn’t do that by text or email could you?

( I could understand why you wouldn’t wish to open that though, but that’s not the point)

[CrazyDave]

7 minutes ago, The Voice of Reason said:

Never anything of importance in it. Really? 

My renewed driving licence came by post the other day. Still a physical thing.

What about wedding/ party invitations, cards of condolence etc?. 

Legal documents etc that require a written signature.

In the last couple of years, because of my age I have been invited to send a sample of my pooh in an envelope in the post for examination for possible bowel/prostrate cancer.  That could be pretty important. Couldn’t do that by text or email could you?

( I could understand why you wouldn’t wish to open that though, but that’s not the point)

Clearly if I was expecting a driving license I would keep an eye out.  That’s once every ten years.

I have t received a wedding or party invite by post that I don’t already know about for at least 20 years.

I haven’t had to sign a legal doc that came in the post for again, at least 20 years.  You can sign electronically or they come by email and I print and sign.  Who posts stuff like that now?

Thankfully I have never been asked to poo in an envelope.

If non parcel post ended tomorrow I don’t see how it would bother me at all, but the point I was making is people should have the option and snail mail should be a last resort.

I couldn’t even tell you how much a stamp was these days and can’t recall posting anything for years.

[The Voice of Reason]

3 minutes ago, CrazyDave said:

 

I have t received a wedding or party invite by post that I don’t already know about for at least 20 years.

I haven’t had to sign a legal doc that came in the post for again, at least 20 years.  You can sign electronically or they come by email and I print and sign.  Who posts stuff like that now?

Thankfully I have never been asked to poo in an envelope.

If non parcel post ended tomorrow I don’t see how it would bother me at all, but the point I was making is people should have the option and snail mail should be a last resort.

I couldn’t even tell you how much a stamp was these days and can’t recall posting anything for years.

Well I’ve certainly had wedding invitations by post that I haven’t been advised of by other means. I think it’s called etiquette, and it’s nicer, rather than some cut and paste thing from a Microsoft word template.

Re the prostrate cancer thing. You don’t have to Pooh in the envelope. You pooh before and put a small sample in a well contained part of the reply receptacle. It’s not like the envelope or it’s contents resemble something from the IRA dirty protests during the Troubles.

 

[Gladys]

1 minute ago, The Voice of Reason said:

Well I’ve certainly had wedding invitations by post that I haven’t been advised of by other means. I think it’s called etiquette, and it’s nicer, rather than some cut and paste thing from a Microsoft word template.

Re the prostrate cancer thing. You don’t have to Pooh in the envelope. You pooh before and put a small sample in a well contained part of the reply receptacle. It’s not like the envelope or it’s contents resemble something from the IRA dirty protests during the Troubles.

 

The test is for bowel cancer and everyone receives the test kit when they are 60.  Happy F*cking Birthday!

[The Voice of Reason]

5 minutes ago, Gladys said:

The test is for bowel cancer and everyone receives the test kit when they are 60.  Happy F*cking Birthday!

Thank you. 

Going back to my point. Your sample is not really something you can send as an e- mail attachment despite CrazyDaves enthusiasm for this new fangled technology.

[CrazyDave]

2 minutes ago, The Voice of Reason said:

Thank you. 

Going back to my point. Your sample is not really something you can send as an e- mail attachment despite CrazyDaves enthusiasm for this new fangled technology.

Last time I had to do one I was told to drop it into the surgery, which was no big deal.

Do people really put that shit in a post box?  That’s disgusting and another reason for me not to open dirty post.

Edited September 9, 2023 by CrazyDave

[The Voice of Reason]

Just now, CrazyDave said:

Last time I had to do one I was told to drop it into the surgery, which was no big deal.

Do people really put that shit in a post box?  That’s disgusting and another reason for mE not to open dirty post.

It could save your life.
I wouldn’t worry,  the pre paid address label is not for your address. Well I don’t think it is

[Cinderella]

The whole medical appointments by letter thing is just rather quaint. It is also totally out of step with most other developed countries. Time for the island to move forward - email and sms reminders for vast majority. Opt out option for dwindling luddites. 

[John Wright]

29 minutes ago, Cinderella said:

The whole medical appointments by letter thing is just rather quaint. It is also totally out of step with most other developed countries. Time for the island to move forward - email and sms reminders for vast majority. Opt out option for dwindling luddites. 

I’m not so sure it’s down to luddites, either from sender or recipient point of view. It’s down to internet security vis a vis e-mails, and the risk of GDPR breach.

Where electronic communication is one of the methods used it’s normally via an app that you’ll have to sign into. Lots of people don’t use either the NHS or Patient Access Apps. The most common systems have an SMS back up if the message to App isn’t read.  

[alpha-acid]

31 minutes ago, John Wright said:

I’m not so sure it’s down to luddites, either from sender or recipient point of view. It’s down to internet security vis a vis e-mails, and the risk of GDPR breach.

Where electronic communication is one of the methods used it’s normally via an app that you’ll have to sign into. Lots of people don’t use either the NHS or Patient Access Apps. The most common systems have an SMS back up if the message to App isn’t read.  

That does not make sense

[Roger Mexico]

7 hours ago, 2112 said:

If people miss appointments, then Manx Care need to perhaps prioritise whether their treatment is both necessary or whether they can go down the waiting list. Harsh but something unpopular needs to be done, even if it’s headline grabbing. It may make people take notice. Personally I have no problem paying for a doctors appointment, on the proviso that it’s returned upon attendance. 

Except as we've discussed on here many times, those who 'missed' the appointment may well have never been informed of it.  If Manx Care (or DHSC before it) really cared about the reasons for missed appointments, they'd be analysing what caused them, what triggered changes etc and taking action to reduce the number and keep Manx care records up to date.  Instead the same systems are operated for decades without change and all Manx Care effort goes towards finding reasons for blaming the public for everything.

What this topic may have been triggered by is a Manx Radio news item today:

Manx Care to introduce new appointment letter system

(clearly copied from a press release as it isn't a new system, just a limited modification).  This says:

Manx Care is bringing in a new system for sending out appointment letters following an increase in patients missing them.

It recorded a higher number of 'did not attends' in recent months - particularly among those who've been waiting the longest for their treatment.

By the end of September orthopaedics will trial a new system - contacting patients six weeks before their appointment instead of months in advance - before it's rolled out to other departments.

Isle of Man Post Office will now be responsible for printing the letters as well as mailing them.

Director of Operations Oliver Radford hopes it means more people remember to attend

Now those on here will know that @wrighty has been agitating for what is an obvious and common sense change for a long time - and it's his department that is carrying out this trial.  But of course, as it's Manx Care, the testing process has been mucked-up.  If you want to try things out, you do it one at a time so that you can see what effect each change has separately.  But by doing this and having IOM Post now print the letters, simultaneously we won't know which any improvement comes from or if the effect of one cancels out the other.