"Recognise other people also work full time!"

I have been with this surgery for a year and up until the last couple of months, I have had nothing to complain about. However, a few things have happened the last month or so that have left me unhappy.

1) I put in a repeat prescription request online on Thursday and went on Monday afternoon to collect the prescription from the pharmacy. They hadn't received it. I rang the doctors and was told it hadn't been processed and that it would be processed the next day. I explained that I had no tablets left now and needed it ASAP (I've never had an issue before with this system). The receptionist stated that all she could do was draw the doctor's attention to it and hope they did it early on. I have to take these tablets with breakfast and couldn't get the tablets until the following afternoon (I also work full time). This meant I went without the tablets I needed on the Tuesday, resulting in me having to have half a day off work as I couldn't get through the day without the tablets.

2) I booked a telephone appointment for 9.10am as this suited my working pattern (again, I work full time). At 9.30am I hadn't received a call from the doctor so I rang the reception. The receptionist told me that it wasn't a time slot system, and the doctor had me on a list and 'would get to me when they got to me'. The doctor finally rang at 1.30pm, when I was in the middle of a meeting I had to come out of to answer the phone.

3) I had a telephone appointment with the doctor for a prescription. The doctor advised me that I should lose some weight as my BMI was too high (which I am under no illusion isn't true) but this was all he said. However, I went to check my online record for something and saw that the doctor had put in that he had given me dietary advice, which he hadn't done. Thankfully I'm quite clued up on nutrition (just need to follow it!) but someone else might not be and not know how to approach losing weight. Are doctors allowed to lie on patient records?

4) I had another appointment for low iron levels. I had a follow up blood test 2 months after the initial blood test. I saw the results came through online but no-one rang me so I didn't know what the results meant or whether I should carry on taking the iron tablets I had previously been prescribed. I had to book a separate appointment 3 weeks later to find out.

5) At my initial appointment for low iron levels I told the doctor that I was vegetarian. I asked her what vegetables and vegetarian foods would be the best to eat that were high in iron. She told me to look it up on google.

You need to recognise that other people also work full time and can't always drop everything to deal with the doctors, particularly when it's not an emergency. The online booking system for telephone consultations makes you book a time slot. Stick to the time slot. People book a slot for a reason. Don't make patients suffer for your mistakes in not processing repeat prescriptions.