Right before the pandemic started, I was diagnosed with genital herpes. I am used to the walk in centre and long wait times, but it is absolutely at its worse now, 2 years on. The insane waiting list, the hectic scheduling of appointments, the lack of empathy. It’s terrible. Living with an STD is hard enough, and it makes it even harder having to use a service like the cobridge clinic.
I must add that all the staff, nurses and doctors I have seen over the years have been absolutely amazing. So the below recommendations are not for those that work there, but simply for those higher up that run the service.
I think the service can be improved in lots of ways to make it more inclusive in these emergency situations, especially for people living with STIs/STDs.
1) I think the service would benefit from an online booking system like GPS have. It can be embarrassing talking to the receptionist about intimate things, 95% of the time they don’t know why I am asking for more medication. It can be really challenging. Having an online booking system would also reduce the concerns raised in points 2, 3, 4 and 5
2) I wish the phone line would tell me the number I am in the queue. This would make it a lot easier for me to go about my day, and will give me a rough time that I will be waiting on the phone. There have been times where I have waited 90 minutes for this.
3) I wish I was able to choose an appointment time. It is so inconvenient having to wait by my phone for an unknowing amount of time. I wish I could choose to have an appointment at 10.15, or 15.30. But no, I can’t. You also cannot book appointments in advance, so then I am stuck with the phone line waiting.
4) If the above was not possible, I wish my appointment time could be more detailed. I am either given the option of 9-12, 12-4 or 4-6. I work full time for the NHS and these long slots are not useful or helpful. It also means I can’t plan my day. Even being scheduled a 60-90 minute time frame would improve this service greatly
5) Though likely not possible, I wish I could request a repeat prescription. Every three months I have to wait on the phone, be triaged and then expect a call back. It then takes on average 3 days for my prescription to be ready, which in an emergent situation like an outbreak, is not useful. Maybe it is possible to have an email address, where patients who have repeat medications can email the prescription request in advance? Then this can be signed off as needed
6) You seriously need to open the walk in centre. I don’t think any more clarification is required for this.
7) if you miss a phone call during the time slot allocated, no one leaves a message. You then have to go through the whole process again of being triaged and await the next best appointment, which could be a few days on. I think what nurses and doctors should do is leave a voice Mail, and state they will call back at the end of the day. It’s simply not fair that you expect people, who likely have jobs/own affairs to attend to, to wait by their phone for four hours, miss a call and go through it all again. It can be quite traumatic if I am honest.
Even matching none of these outcomes would improve the service. I know I am likely going to be using this throughout the rest of my adulthood, and at the moment in my opinion it is absolutely dire.
"The service I have received over the past two years"
About: Sexual Health Services - North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (Open Clinic) Sexual Health Services - North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (Open Clinic) ST6 2JN https://openclinic.org.uk/clinics/cobridge-community-health-centre/
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