10-11-2021, 06:14 PM
(10-11-2021, 02:00 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: How have people's testing experiences been?
I can say I am thoroughly unimpressed with my experience.
I completely understand that healthcare workers are suffering right now, and I don't fault any individual here.
Obviously, I am a walk in. The walk in experience is firmly second class, you walk in through the lines of cars, up an uncut curb (I don't know what they'd do for a wheelchair user who needed testing), and then you sit in a chair next to the HVAC unit. This is not only an unpleasant place to wait, but also one that is problematic for testing, because I, a person with normal hearing, can barely hear what is being said to me, someone who is hard of hearing would not be able to understand anything.
When you come in, you're led in by a security guard, who gives you a clipboard, and then leaves, with no instructions. I filled it out, and waited about 25 minutes. Eventually I just flagged down one of the people who were going to cars, I wanted to make sure that I was at least actually waiting in line. I asked them, I filled in this clip board, what do I do now? They said, "I dunno"...how is it that they don't know what's going on? That does not give me confidence.
They went to get someone for me, great, that's helpful, that person tells me, oh, well you have to wait till after all the cars. Which, remember, you're in a tent, I have no idea how many cars there are, so I ask, "how long", they don't know, I just have to wait. They asked how long I'd been waiting, and I said (again difficult to hear each other) "about half an hour" they said, no, I couldn't have been waiting that long, they saw someone else a half hour ago and didn't see me then. That person they saw, was presumably the person who walked past me on the way out while I was waiting to be led into the waiting area.
Now, leaving aside whether waiting in a climate controlled car with a radio is the same as waiting on a tiny chair next to an HVAC unit, I need some understanding of time and progress. When you're waiting in a car, you can see where you are in line, and how fast the line is moving. (I do understand that waiting an indefinite period of time in a waiting room is a hallmark of our healthcare system--usually there's a magazine at least).
Eventually the person came back out, and, again I could barely hear them, but it sounded like they said they put me in line even though there were still cars waiting. So I waited, and I waited and I waited some more. Eventually another person arrived. She got handed the same clip board, filled it out, and then handed it to someone. 15 minutes later, they got tested. So I'm pretty ticked off now, so I went and asked the person about that and eventually they came out and I got the test done.
I don't know if they lost my paperwork, or what happened, but it took me over an hour, and I waited till past my testing timeslot.
I don't know what the experience is like when you're in a car, or even what the typical experience for walk in patients is like, but I can honestly say I am thoroughly unimpressed. Does anyone know if my experience is typical, atypical, etc?
As a sidenote, why do they book people for appointments like this, but still have an hour long wait? Isn't the point of booking appointments that people arrive at the right time?
My money is on your paperwork being lost, it happens.
Was there a good reason for you to be tested though? Just wondering.