"Unhelpful, rude attitude"

I had a phone consultation with a consultant from the bowel department at the East Surrey Hospital last week, following a referral by my GP -  which was at their suggestion, I did not request it myself.

As soon as I answered the phone, I sensed the consultant's hostility. My GP referred me because I had been in constant pain which reduced me to tears for the last few weeks, but the consultant said that because I'd previously had tests done, they were not prepared to look into my problem any further.

I tried to ask politely if something could have possibly gone wrong since then, and they very forcefully told me that it was impossible, and that they knew their job - I at no point implied that they did not know their job.

I asked the consultant if they had the result of the test that my doctor told me was necessary, but they said that they did not have it, the doctor was wrong in ordering it, and they would not act on it regardless of the result. The more I asked questions, they seemed to become increasingly annoyed, they gave me the impression that they were blaming both my GP and myself for wasting their time, accused me of raising my voice - which was entirely untrue - and slammed the phone down.

This has caused me an enormous amount of distress, there was no call for their attitude, which I could not understand as I was guided by my GP, who was concerned about the degree of my pain, and was only trying to help.