3 years ago
--- An Italian labyrinth, one morning wasted for n...
--- An Italian labyrinth, one morning wasted for nothing.
I book a medical examination and show up for admission at the established time and date.
I register, I pay, they tell me the number of the clinic.
But no one tells me where to wait. It didn't seem like a fundamental thing to know, but instead ...
There are already people in front of the clinic, 4 or 5 people, no sign indicating where to wait. There is little space to keep distances: we are in a place of passage (in front of two elevators, at the meeting point of three corridors).
Given the health emergency of the moment, I think it is better to wait in the waiting room, the same corridor as the clinic, a few meters away.
Better to avoid Italian-style gatherings, I think. No?
But my civic sense and my prudence have punished me.
I wait patiently for almost an hour, going out every 10 minutes to check, but no one calls.
After an hour, I stand in front of the door of the clinic (together with 7 other people !!) and ask for explanations.
I stop the nurse and what do I find out?
That I have already been called (was it true?), But that they had not found me, because I was not in front of the clinic door and therefore they had gone on with the appointments. Absurd ... but the anti-Covid provisions have not been implemented here?
Where's the social distancing? A simple (and cheap) sheet to specify where to wait?
Moral: no examination and, as if that weren't enough, I am told that the equipment to do it is missing; they must recover it, no one knows why. So exactly what would I pay the ticket for, I wonder?
I lost one morning (4 hours off work), paid for unnecessary parking and will have to return.
At least they will reschedule my appointment shortly, but you know what an advantage!
I will have to go back to mass together with the others in a busy and crowded place, making sure that I do not pass in front of me as in line at the butcher's shop.
In the face of health security. And here it is not a question of lack of financial means ...
-- One week later
I would like to supplement the review by adding some positive notes and a reflection on what happened.
Return to the clinic to redo the blessed exam.
Arriving at the clinic, I warn the nurse on duty that I have arrived and she tells me exactly where to wait (ie on the chairs next to the door ...).
When my turn comes I understand why they didn't find me the other time: the staff comes out of the clinic and, in a low voice, takes the names of the people waiting there.
No names, no numbers called out loud and therefore it is clear that if you are a little further on and you do not approach to announce yourself, it is as if you had not introduced yourself.
I take my exam and come up with some conclusions about this experience.
Positive notes:
- the nursing staff, aside from organizational problems, is very kind, professional and scrupulous
- the staff at the counters is smart: it took them 5 minutes to reschedule the exam, without having to return binding documents or give back money
Negative note:
- I believe it is still important, given the health emergency, that users are given precise instructions on how to move around the clinic to take advantage of the services. The building is already a labyrinth of corridors in itself ... if the waiting places are not clearly indicated there is a risk of unnecessary crowding, as well as wasting time for everyone.
In any case, I will submit the report to the URP as suggested.