"Find me a new GP! I want a Doctor NOT a Medical..."

Through no fault of my own I arrived at HMC 11 mins late for an appointment and the Doc refused to see me until the end of surgery TWO HOURS later. What great patient care! As a sufferer of acute anxiety and depression as well as substance addiction, there is no more likely decision to bring on a relapse into alcohol. And how many times do I turn up for appointments 10 mins early and then get kept waiting more than 20 mins after my due time - without an apology?? How many times do you hang on the phone listening to messages about coughing for over quarter of an hour mid-afternoon? The receptionist knows you are waiting?? Well pick it up then!!! Praise Heaven for the on-line patient access system. AT least using this I can get an appointment without waiting 3 weeks.

I gave 5 stars for info re services. Yes they tell you all the rules, loads of facts about flu jabs, smear tests, MMR vaccinations and how to test your blood pressure 'while u wait' (which is usually sky high cos you've been there ages past your allocated time-slot). ANd why are you kept waiting so long? Not simply because on the odd occasion your lift to the surgery is 10 mins late so you put everybody else behind. It's because each GP spends 5 mins reading patient notes about somebody they've never examined before, then 5 mins discussing previous appointments/treatments with you. If I could see the same GP every visit (my own Doctor in fact - a concept now so alien as to be baffling) - we could cut out all that wasted time!

When you do eventually gain access to the inner sanctum, I must say the GPs are fantastic. They instil confidence, are warm and sympathetic, make appropriate referrals to other medical organisations (like Primary Mental Health Care, INT, Achieve etc.) though few are actually up to speed regarding addiction. But that's OK - they know enough to refer you to the relevant pro. Its the ORGANISATION of the Surgery that prompts me to vent my spleen here.

Anyway having been refused to be seen at 8.41am, I wasted another few quid on a taxi home, logged on to patient access, found an available slot later today, booked it for 10.30am, and will make sure am there by 10:20am! I rate my chances of being in front of a GP by 10:31am as nil. Oh, and the GP I'm seeing is totally new to me. Again. Might not be a bad thing - because the reason for the appointment is quite aside from my chronic conditions. Joy