"Doctor hung up on me..."

This review comes off the back of a phone conversation with a doctor (who called me at 7.30 p.m.) who after 8 minutes hung up on me! The GP relayed information to me in such an unclear way that I ended up having to ask many questions just to clarify (the GP mentioned having had 'a long day'...). The GP assumed that I knew information I didn't, tried to book me in for an appointment for a specific treatment a few weeks earlier than when it should have taken place and wasn’t clear in explaining some information – when I said that I would figure out a particular piece of information myself, I was hung up on. To say this behaviour was beyond offensive is an understatement. This left me with unanswered questions; I had to book another appointment to speak to a different GP, spending more NHS money, just because a doctor couldn't be bothered to communicate effectively.

Also, be aware that if you book a GP phone appointment by calling reception, you may end up with an in person appointment you have no knowledge of. When this happened to me, I called reception when I didn’t receive a call from the GP. The receptionist ‘remembered’ our call from the previous day and was rudely adamant that I had booked an in person appointment. I told her in no uncertain terms that I hadn’t and knew I hadn’t because I was going to be at work and the question I had absolutely didn’t warrant an appointment in person – I would never have booked this. Her response then was ‘oh well, let me book you in for another appointment’...I told her not to bother (why would I trust her to get this right?) and booked an appointment myself via on-line booking for later that day, took time off work to go to the surgery, ask my 1 minute question (literally took this length of time) then returned to work. Safe to say that this appointment didn't just waste NHS time/money but more importantly, my time and money.

I do take missed appointment costs seriously - I find it funny how patients are always reminded of the cost of missed appointments yet when the fault lies with the GP surgery, nothing is said (the patient is still blamed).