"Friendly people but utterly disorganised and..."

There's good and bad when it comes to my experiences with Sheepmarket...

I was previously registered with The Little Surgery in Stamford - a small surgery with two full-time GPs and a walk-in service where you could ALWAYS get to see a GP on the same morning you had a problem.

Alas, that wonderful surgery (a proper jewel of the NHS) closed and many patients were moved to the Sheepmarket surgery.

The GPs are friendly and accommodating, but obviously overworked, like much of the NHS.

The nurses and support staff also.

But the organisation and admin can be utterly chaotic - prescriptions not being sorted, not being done on time, being given appointments to see the wrong person.

Notes being taken on pencil and paper and not being followed up. Their 24-hour blood pressure machine was broken. And there always seems to be a delay on your appointment when you do get one. One morning I had an 0850 appointment, yet wasn't seen until 10am. I'm not even sure how that's possible!

My consultant has been sending letters to my GP about my treatment that the GP doesn't seem to be seeing. I'm not sure those letters are on my file.

Generally, to get a non-emergency appointment you have to wait a few days, which I guess is standard now.

That said, my partner had a serious problem recently and was seen the same day in an emergency appointment, so it is possible and there can be a decent triage service. She had a good experience.

The problem is, it's all so inconsistent...

I have the utmost respect for the NHS and staff that work within it, they've saved my life before, so I hate moaning. But I think some simple admin reforms and organisation would see Sheepmarket transformed from - at times - chaotic to a surgery we can be proud of.

My advice to anyone wanting to join would be, to an extent, take things into your own hands: ie, keep chasing, be persistent. That's how I got a referral to my current consultant, who's amazing. If I hadn't found him myself and repeatedly insisted on a referral, I probably wouldn't be here now.