I work in health care and our policy is 24 hours cancelation notice. And my boss means 24 hours (not just the day before.) If your appointment is at 3:00 and you call to cancel at 3:30 the day before, that's less than 24 hours.... So, I know some people can really be sticky on this subject. The reason is so that we have time to fill the spot with someone else. Sometimes we have a waiting list of 4 weeks, which isn't that log considering we're more of a specialist. But still, some people don't like to wait.

But, this is completely odd to me. Five days is ample time to cancel. Once patients cancel we don't call to harrass them. I am a secretary so I normally talk to folks on the phone. I call back one time to reschedule them. That's it. If they don't call back, then that's on them. It's called patient responsibility.

Doctors can break down just like anyone else. They can have mental health issues, too. This is not a healthy environment for you to be in. I suggest you look for a new doctor. Even if you've been with this doctor a long time, it seems he's breaking down and it could be something as simple as stress, but still it's not good to put this type of pressure on your patients.