I pretty much always hear back from someone the same day unless they are not in obviously. I also have my nurses home phone and cell phone, and my doctor has a pager service which he always responds to pretty quickly...so one way or another I can track someone down if I need too. My doctor is willing to see patients any day of the week, and I have often times called my nurse the day before or day of and asked to be seen with no problem. However, my doc and nurse are in the process of switching hospitals so I guess this could all change very soon depending on how the new hospital is run.