"Negligent Administrative Handling and Total Lack…"

We have had an extremely frustrating and distressing experience with St John’s Medical Centre. My partner urgently needs to access private diagnostic care due to a potentially serious health condition, and her private health insurer (Vitality) requires a standard NHS GP form confirming no pre-existing conditions.

Our private GP completed their part of the form in minutes. However, despite this being a simple administrative task, the practice has now stated it may take up to four weeks to complete. This delay is not only excessive – it is dangerous, given the possible underlying diagnosis.

We’ve also been given conflicting information by different members of staff, including being told the forms had been lost. When I visited the practice in person, I encountered a rude and dismissive receptionist, who made no effort to understand or address the urgency of the situation.

Shockingly, we were then told the delay is due to a single administrator who appears to be solely responsible for handling these requests. If one non-clinical staff member can block access to care, it speaks to a serious lack of operational resilience and oversight.

We are doing everything we can to avoid burdening NHS services by pursuing private care – yet we are being actively obstructed by the very system we’re trying to step aside from.

This has been a deeply upsetting experience, and I hope this feedback prompts a serious internal review of your processes.