Running to time

I’m writing this post in a sticky, overcrowded King’s Cross train station on a wet summer Friday evening. Coming from the North East, but living and working in London means that I have spent a lot of my life either on the East Coast main line or excitedly waiting at King’s Cross to meet people when they come to visit.

For the last hour, I have been refreshing the arrivals information on my phone every couple of minutes, hoping that the train that my sister is on somehow miraculously speeds up. I know this is pointless because every time I refresh it there’s an extra few minutes added to the already delayed arrival time.

It’s really easy to bash the trains and just complain about how they always let us down, but when I look behind my annoyance I see there’s a lovely reason for me getting cross or annoyed. The reason I’m here is because I’m excited about seeing people that I love, miss, and care about. I’m always genuinely touched that they’ve made the effort to come down to see me and spend their weekends with me. It’s these things that make life fun and make us feel connected and valued.

Alternatively, I’ve got a more serious reason for travelling. It might be that a member of my family is unwell, and I need to get up to see them quickly both to put my mind at rest and to offer any help that I can. So, when I’m delayed in those situations I feel my heartrate go up and I spend the whole journey sitting on the edge of my seat, willing the train to speed up, tapping my watch and turning down the offer of drinks from the refreshment trolley.

This same anxiety and frustration is something that I see in patients sitting in a waiting room. There must be nothing worse than waiting to see your oncologist to get the results of your most recent scan and constantly being told that they’re running late.

The joy of my private clinic is that this just doesn’t happen. I’m able to schedule the appointments to give the amount of time that each patient needs. There’s no double booking. There’s no rushing to finish up other tasks when I should be in clinic. The time is set aside for us to have a proper conversation. It also means that when we meet, we know how long we have, we’re as relaxed as we can be, and I can get to you at the time that I say I get to you. It’s very rare for me to have to change these times and when that does happen, I will be having personal communication with you long before the event to reduce any anxieties or confusion. I won’t be telling you that I haven’t got your recent results because they’ve not been reported – I’ve had plenty of time to prepare for our meeting so we can make the best use of your time. I can also give you written copies of your results and a record of our consultation on the same day, so there’s no waiting around for that.

The maxim that the best things in life comes to those who wait may by true – but not when it comes to train journeys or seeing your oncologist.