"Disappointed in the service received"

Today was the third time in a week I’d visited the Sexual Health department at the centre, and yet again I’ve left not having received what I came for.

My first appointment I booked online. When I turned up to the clinic I signed in and specified that I had booked online. The receptionist even double checked that that was the case, that I had booked online. I was expecting to wait some what as appointments are never on time, however having waited close to 2 hours I was running out of time as I had another appointment elsewhere to attend. I asked the receptionist if he could confirm how much longer I’d have to wait, and he said there were another 3 people ahead of me in the queue. He asked me again if I’d booked online, I confirmed I had, and he then said that I’d been marked down as a walk-in, hence the long wait I’d experienced. I explained I couldn’t wait any longer to be seen on that day and he apologised and said I could attend the weekend clinic, but that I couldn’t book an appointment and would need to turn up early on the day to ensure I’d be seen.

I attend the clinic on the weekend, early as stated, and was seen within 30mins of opening by a male doctor. I was hoping to have the contraceptive coil fitted that day, however was told that it wouldn’t be possible and that I’d have to rebook another appointment to have a fitting. When arranging this with the receptionist she was reluctant to give me an appointment at a time that was suitable for me. As I work a 9-5 office job Monday to Friday I had asked whether I could have an evening or weekend appointment. Regardless of this the receptionist was still quoting me weekday morning appointment times even though I’d repeatedly said I would not be able to attend at those times.

I finally had an appointment booked for a weekday evening, today, to have my contraceptive coil fitted. I arrived 20 minutes early for my allotted appointment time and was called in 30 mins after my specified appointment time. I was immediately told that I wouldn’t be able to have the coil fitted as I was not at the right stage of my cycle- something that was never mentioned to me at the previous appointment, nor when booking this appointment, and having read online that the coil can be fitted at any point in the cycle I was increasingly frustrated. I’ve now had to book a 4th appointment for a simple 15minute procedure that I could have had done on the very first day had staff worked together more coherently.

If I had the money to pay for private treatment elsewhere, I would do so without a doubt. I’ve never had such bad experiences in the past when this clinic was based at Whipps Cross, so not sure what’s happened now that results in service being so shockingly bad and unorganised. Not only do I have to travel double the distance from my house to get to the clinic, but I’m wasting hours of my time each time I visit.