On December 18, 2025, a reader wrote to us in frustration, saying that during an appointment, a doctor gave him a specific date for his next visit, but the inconsistent registration system at the county hospital did not allow it to be booked.
“I called the registration desk at the hospital outpatient clinic to arrange a time for an appointment with a diabetologist on the date set by the doctor, and that is where I encountered a problem,” the patient complained. “There was no availability on that date. The registration office offered me an appointment only at the end of February. I have been going to this clinic for about three years, and nothing like this has ever happened before. I wonder who was at fault: the doctor, the registration office, or perhaps there was a communication error between the clinic and registration? I became so upset that my blood sugar and blood pressure rose, and we did not set a date. I will continue to clarify why the date set by the doctor is being ignored,” the reader promises.
In its response, St. Luke’s Hospital explains that final appointment dates depend on the clinic’s schedule, the number of available slots and the patient waiting list, and that a date proposed by a doctor during an appointment does not always mean an automatic reservation in the system. Sometimes the date still needs to be confirmed by the registration office or entered into the schedule, and in the meantime the available slots may be taken.
This situation can be compared to visiting a restaurant where the chef comes out to a guest and invites them to dinner the following Friday. However, when the guest arrives, it turns out that the receptionist responsible for the main reservation book knew nothing about the conversation and had already rented all the tables to someone else.