"Appointment for removal of Mirena Coil"

I arrived 8 minutes early for my appointment, I rang the intercom and said I have an appointment this time. I was told to come back at my appointment time. There was nowhere to sit outside and nowhere to go in the 7 mins I had left. While I understand the need to stagger appointments in a pandemic it is the way I was spoken to, not what was said that upset me when I was already feeling anxious.

At my appointment time I was let into the clinic area, I was upset and vulnerable, I have been unwell for 5 day with lower abdominal pain, I was nervous about the procedure I was about to have, and had an under lying niggle that I have some sort of cancer.

I was greeted by the rudest person I have ever encountered in the NHS, the staff member asked my name, I was too upset to answer initially, the staff member the proceeded to shout at me in an unpleasant and aggressive manner. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

I left the clinic area very upset.

Another lovely staff member asked if I was ok when I was crying outside, they took me into the clinic area, helped me with hand sanitiser and showed me to a seat.

I did have the misfortune of having to interact with the initial staff member again, & then was shown to the examination room.

The 2 staff members who carried out the procedure were professional and efficient. My Mirena coil was removed painlessly and I was treated with dignity. Having said that, given how upset I was, I was not treated with care. I was not listened to and I very much felt they were there to get a procedure done and not really interested in my worries or concerns.

Had I been a younger woman with an STI I would have walked out of that clinic and never gone back. As it is, I am in my 40's & a mother of 3, I have a supportive partner and generally I am not a vulnerable person, but I felt vulnerable that day for the reasons stated above.

Apart from the lovely staff member who showed me back into the clinic area, I would not say and of the staff I met in the Stafford South sexual health clinic were living the MPFT values.