Care Opinion

Text size

Theme

Language

Videos in BSL or ISL
Help with language translation
Help with reading or listening

Poor Service - Lacking Compassion

Story from nhs.uk

"Poor Service - Lacking Compassion"

About: Dr Solway & Dr Whale Practice

Due to unforeseen traffic conditions I was late for my appointment with the nurse for a very important blood test. I was 20 minutes late. The receptionist spoke to the nurse at 9:05/9:10 and the nurse catagorically refused to see me and said she was far too busy, this takes all of 5 minutes. I was in traffic for over an hour and this was unavoidable as the town was highly congested, making it impossible to get there. Historically I have never missed or been late and take the first appointment of the morning, and have never been seen on time often 15-20 mins beyond appointment time. I have not been able to reschedule this appointment as I have to make the lost time of 1 hour and 45 minutes up at work,surely some concession must be made for people who are genuinely not well and urgently need this appmt, this has now set me back because I will have to wait for a suitable time with my employer. Some consideration is needed and compassion for patients and their wellbeing. Something I don’t seem to be experiencing at the moment at Orchard St. with the exception of your lovely receptionists who were kind and understanding.

More about:
nhs.uk logo
Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Dr Solway & Dr Whale Practice 4 months ago
Dr Solway & Dr Whale Practice

Submitted on 11/03/2025 at 15:28
Published on nhs.uk at 15:28

Dear K Boon

We are most concerned that you felt that you needed to complain and that the practice offered poor service and lacked compassion when you arrived late for an appointment due to traffic issues in and around the town. I understand from the record that you did indeed have a early morning appointment although not the first of the day and that you were late due to traffic congestion as were the other patients before you, which meant everyone was running late. I am also assured that despite your comments consideration and compassion were given to you when the receptionist offered you the next available appointment which was approximately 40 minutes after you arrived, which you declined. You were also offered an alternative appointment the following day which you also declined. I am sorry that you felt no concession was given to you for being late and other than give you someone elses appointment slot, which we would not do, I am not sure what else we could have done. We try very hard to accommodate patients which I believe we did in this instance sadly not to your satisfaction. The HCA was more than happy to see you at a later time, having already a number of patients who were waiting for their appointment.

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k