"Great medical staff"

The doctors and nurses themselves at West Lodge are great. I had my routine smear test today and the nurse was wonderful. She explained the process clearly and was friendly throughout the exam, taking into account my nerves, and even taking the time to explain (with pictures from a folder) why it’d been difficult to take swabs in a previous exam. She’s also done my son’s vaccinations previously and was reassuring throughout.

The availability of appointments, however, is a problem. Each time I need an appointment I need to call at 8am, and frequently have the phone cut off multiple times due to maximum users already in the queue. By the time I’m able to get through, there’s no appointments left more often than not. I’ve also had appointments cancelled at late (or no) notice on two occasions and I’ve only been with the practice four months.

Today I’ve also seen the reception staff be extremely rude to a mother with a sick child, not even looking up from their screen to tell her they had no appointments. The lady left in tears and I found the lack of compassion (and appointments) disheartening.