"Deeply distressing experience here"

I came into the Brixton clinic on 8th February 2018 for a medial abortion after organising an appointment on the phone a few days beforehand.

There was some kind of miscommunication somewhere between the phone line and the clinic, as I was led to believe that I would only need to come for one appointment and could have both pills in one sitting. I had to take a half day off work to come for my appointment. I saw waiting for over two hours in the lower waiting room with no information given to me about when my appointment would be. Eventually I was called in for a scan so and was told 'you'll be called back in in a few minutes'. I sat waiting for half an hour before my friend went to the desk for me to ask when I'd be likely to be called back in. At this point, the staff made it clear there was some kind of problem with my appointment but didn't explain what it was, (they were very unprofessional - making it clear among themselves that there was a problem right in front of her). Instead they told us to move up to the top half of the clinic where we waited another half an hour before I was told that I couldn't be given the pills that day and that this was normal, that you always need to come in twice and I should have been told that on the phone but that the helpline workers have no idea what goes on in the clinics.

After being told by the person who gave me the scan that I'd be called back in, and having waited an hour, you can imagine this left me confused. I burst into tears at the desk and was extremely upset. I was very distressed being there in the first place, let alone being told I'd need to come back another day.

I returned for my appointment on 12th February 2018, again having to take half a day off work to come in. This time I waited an hour and a half in the waiting room, you can imagine my extreme anxiety wondering whether I would be able to have the procedure this time. During this time, I could hear the clinic staff in the room next door arguing and being generally unprofessional. Finally I was seen and had the procedure done. I was told I would be contacted by Marie Stopes for counselling afterwards, this never happened.

This entire experience has been extremely emotionally draining, not helped by the disorganisation of Marie Stopes. I don't know what the disconnect is between the helpline and the clinics but this needs to be addressed. The staff at the clinic were unprofessional and made me feel bad for asking questions and having my friends call ahead of time to check that all would go smoothly for my second appointment.

Please take note of this and make the necessary changes so that noone else has to have this experience. Unless serious changes are made, I would not recommend Marie Stopes to anyone looking for a provider.