"At the end of my tether"

There are so many issues with this practice and am genuinely considering finding another practice in my area.

The first issue is the rudeness and lack of respect of the reception team. On my first ever appointment I was waiting in the waiting area and one receptionist had NO respect for my privacy and began telling me i needed to book my smear and wanted to know when my periods were... in the middle of a busy waiting room. it's not rocket science but you don't usually come out from behind the desk to quiz a patient on their monthly cycle. So indescreet, and because I'm not rude I felt bad telling her Id rather not discuss that in the open space where strangers can hear my business.

On several occasions I get very rude receptionists over the phone who genuinely sound to have attitude problems, or like they'd much rather be elsewhere. I called to book an appointment and instead of taking the call she started speaking to someone in the surgery whilst I was there on the phone, no "excuse me one moment" just started talking to someone else. it's just little nuances like that, that grown professional adults should know to avoid. It reflects so badly against the surgery, and lets down the other staff that actually seem to care about their professionalism.

I also had an emergency appointment with a doctor i had never seen before regarding suicidal ideation and they just looked at me like a madwoman and told me to wait some more weeks to see IAPT. This in itself is incredibly dangerous practice in my opinion. I was lucky enough to have another appointment with another doctor shortly after that, that was empathetic enough to help me. God forbid someone else who went to see that doctor in such a traumatic time of their lives, just to be told to wait because theres nothing they could do..?!

As someone with ASD and health anxiety, I believe in doing my research and coming to appointments with the appropriate questions, i also like to be proactive in being healthy. But I can't help but notice that whenever i ask questions, i'm rushed along and am made out to be a burden and most of the time i'm hurried out of the appointments even though i'm well within my appointment slot. I am currently dealing with chronic health issues and no doctors seem to believe me or want to listen to me. V FRUSTRATING!

I was told last year that I had been referred to a specialist in August and it would take 4-6 weeks, After 8 weeks I had heard nothing and called the reception and they said the referral had been sent and they are processing it. I called the specialist department myself and they apparently NEVER got the referral form. So I was told four completely different things by two doctors , receptionis and IAPTt . Only to realise I had to start the referral process all over again. It ended up taking almost 7 months just to get an initial assessment. This should NOT happen, and the surgery needs to work harder at communication, its damaging to the health of patients.