"Just as cheerful and welcoming as last time"

I had a follow up appointment in June 2015 with dermatology Orpington in an office in Tesco's car park, Orpington. The venue seemed to be a very good use of NHS resources saving money on expensive office space or building costs.

It was a pleasure to see Dr Anna Malone again. She was just as cheerful and welcoming as last time but after the welcome it was straight to business. She quickly inspected the ink spot on my back, told me there was nothing to worry about in the photo she took last time and that there was no change. Then we moved on to the solar keratosis on my scalp. The liquid nitrogen treatment which she gave me last time had not worked. Sometimes it does not. She quickly and lucidly explained the alternatives: a repeat treatment, a cream, or the option of having it scraped off. She explained that the latter would almost certainly mean it would not recur and that the sample would 'go under the microscope' just in case. I immediately chose the latter since it seemed by far the best solution. She told me there might be a slight scar but that was of no concern to me, and my suspicion is it will not scar as she was so competent in the procedure.

And so to the 'operating table'. A flat surface to lie on while Dr Malone scraped the keratosis off my scalp after a small anaesthetic injection. She cauterised as she scraped and it was all over in seconds. There was no pain or discomfort. Afterwards Dr Malone took me through a wound care information sheet, again very quickly but with sufficient time to ensure I had understood. She will be writing to me in two months time with the results of the analysis of the scraped skin. I anticipate she will discharge me from her clinic at the same time.

Dr Malone had been ably assisted by a nurse who had just suddenly appeared when the choice of scraping had been made and prepared the injection and scalpel. The receptionists were also very pleasant.

I would like to thank Dr Malone and her team. I will be recommending Dr Malone to all my family and friends and GP, which will possibly mean she might be very much in demand. The only way forward then would be involving her in training and managing other dermatologists but then, most likely, she does this already.