"Told to go to local Pharmacy who would check me over"

Suffered from symptoms of tonsilitis through the night so called for a GP appointment at 830am. Told by reception staff to go to local Pharmacy who would check me over and decide if I needed an appointment.

Pharmacy didn't open until 9am so I got out of bed and walked down only to be told that Pharmacy don't have the equipment to do this. They were perplexed as to why I'd been asked to go down and called the practice. The receptionists said I would need to phone back so I did and was told they had no appointments left.

They were questioning why I needed a same day appointment even though I had already explained the symptoms (have experienced tonsilitis a number of times before) on the original call and the second one.

Eventually I was passed onto a nurse practitioner who offered me a 1030am appointment. Very disappointed that I had to go out twice in the cold/wet for a process that doesn't exist.

I didn't find the telephone manner helpful at all and didn't feel like I was believed by the reception staff. The pharmacy staff and nurse practitioner were friendly and helpful.