"This surgery understands that I work full time"

I work full time.

Now I am lucky in that I have supportive managers, and I can arrange to work from home.

I am also lucky that I live in walking distance from the surgery.

But the reason that I like this surgery so much is that, with a bit of juggling from me, and working with the setup that they have, I can easily access healthcare around my job in a way that has been much harder at other surgeries.

[In other places you have to do things like, be late for work because you tried to get through on the phones for an hour from 08:30, and then leave work randomly because the only appointment was available for 14:40.

Here, I just know that I have to set aside a morning to be flexible, and how much of that morning is usually dependent on what time I can get to the surgery first thing.]

Today I organised to work from home for the morning.

I got to the surgery for just after 8am, and I understand it was a very busy morning.

I was given an appointment and told to come back after 10am, which works great for me as I went home and got some work done.

I came back as requested, and admittedly, the wait was still a little long, but I was seen before 11am, and I do understand that, when it is busy or they are short-staffed, it is reasonable to wait for a bit.

Tbh I managed to keep up with some work emails on my phone as I waited, so I didn't mind.

My appointment was really great - saw a doctor who went a long way above and beyond what I was expecting, and I know how busy they were that morning.

Need a blood test - managed to book it for a day that works for me, early enough in the morning that I can still get to work on time, in the time frame the doctor asked for, because Whiteladies open the doors at 7:30 am.

Which is like an hour earlier than what I've had to work with elsewhere.

In summary, with a bit of juggling from me, I get excellent access to great healthcare in a way that is reliable enough for me to work with to still do my job.

The system here works much better for me than some of the other systems I have dealt with in other places.

I get that if you do not have a supportive boss, and you can't arrange to work from home, that having to be there at 7:30 am, and stay there for a couple of hours might be ore hard to manage, and I know I am lucky in many ways.

But also, given what I know of the pressures GPs and the NHS are under, and that I get all of this for free, I personally consider that the bit of juggling and less-than-an-hour of waiting that I had to do to get the healthcare I need is really reasonable, and so I think the service is great.

Thanks!