"Worrying hygiene, staff, attitudes and referrals"

I have been a patient at this Surgery for around 2.5 years.  During this time I've been reasonably happy with the service and have seen several of the practice GPs, all of whom I have found helpful and have listened to me.  In saying that I am not a particularly regular patient, or hadn't been until quite recently.  In term of poor hygiene I witnessed an overflowing waste bin in the patient toilet, which also contained surgical waste.  I did bring it to the attention of the practice and they said they would attend to it, but the reason given was that they did not currently have a cleaner, and that the staff didn't go in there.  I also attended an appointment where there was a dog under the GPs desk and I was not made aware of it being there until the end of my appointment.  I myself work from home dealing with the public and, for the purposes of health and safety (ie allergies) I no longer own a cat as this seems to have become an issue for more and more people in recent years. 

In terms of staff, there has been more than one occasion when a staff member raised their voice to me and was, I felt, dismissive and rude.  Again, I deal with the public and am aware how important good manners are in dealing with telephone calls, I did try to complain by email to one of the partners but I received a response (by letter) which I found patronising and which was I felt was biased in the receptionist's favour.

On to the really worrying issues, I had a fasting blood test last year, before which I was called up and told the appointment had been cancelled as the nurse was off sick.  Very shortly after that I was called again and offered the appointment as the nurse had returned to work after all.  When I arrived this nurse was in a very poor state and could hardly speak, with Laryngitis.  It was plain to see that they were in no fit state to work.  I wrote to the surgery by email and received another response from the same partner, which again I found dismissive, who also advised, in my opinion untruthfully, that the nurse had worked a full shift, which contradicted what one of the receptionists said.  I felt extremely uncomfortable having bloods taken from someone who I believed may be infectious and in the first 24 hours of a virus, and felt very sorry for this nurse.

Last but not least, I was given a prescription for double the amount of a medication which could have had a a serious impact on my health by one of the GPs who failed to refer me for an important hospital follow up (Rapid Access Electrocardiogram) a week later it finally happened when I called and emailed both the surgery and the hospital.  I was called by a receptionist, and, whilst apologies were relayed, I was told the GP had been off, the task was passed to the practice manager who was then subsequently also not in work, so my referral did not take place.  I enquired if one of the other GPs could have done it, but was told, again I felt dismissively, that they had their own patients to attend to.  Given that I have seen several doctors at this practice I fail to see why this could not have been passed to another GP, luckily I have not been diagnosed with any cardiac issue but the outcome could have been different.  

I have since felt I have had no choice but to move to another surgery. I now feel I need to speak out, albeit unofficially as yet.  I am happy to be contacted at any stage.