"Difficulty with appointment"

Our son developed a wart like growth on his body, I took him to get advice from a pharmacist in the first instance as it was no urgency. They reviewed it and said they would recommend getting it reviewed by a GP before suggesting treatment options. The following morning my wife called the surgery to arrange an appointment for the following week when my son was on holiday from school and we were on a day off. She was told that that was not possible and that we would have to call on the day to get an appointment.

On the day that the appointment was required I called the surgery just before 08:00 to hear an answer phone message saying that the opening hours were 08:00-18:00, I therefore called back after 08:00 to get another answerphone telling me that if I require an appointment then I could call after 08:30, this I found highly frustrating having just been told you were open at 08:00. When I did get to speak to a receptionist who informed me that a GP would call me back at some point during the day. I received a call from the GP around 09:15, I explained that I was calling on the advice of a pharmacist who said I should get my son reviewed by a GP, I was then offered an appointment for 11:30.

We arrived at the surgery at 11:10, checked in and my son was called through at 11:50. I was a little surprised to see the practice nurse, who was very competent and diagnosed a viral infection, they said they would speak to the GP about reviewing my son but returned saying that the GP agreed with them and had prescribed antibiotic cream as the wart looked infected. This I was surprised at, being a prescriber myself the prescriber never saw the patient, at no point were we asked if my son had any allergies, we were given no instructions for duration of treatment and just told that it would be fine and to collect the prescription from pharmacy.

I don't have any issues being seen by the nurse who was very polite and thorough with their explanation of the virus.

I do take issue with the process of booking a routine appointment, it is not surprising that people end up resorting to A&E which is highly inappropriate due to the frustration at getting to see a GP. I also take issue with speaking to a GP, as advised, being asked to come without being informed that I would have an appointment with the nurse.