"Only good for simple, short term, easy to fix..."

I have a very debilitating long term condition, however it is almost completely ignored. There is only one GP here who cares and who really knows much about it and nobody else wants to know. If I hadn't happened to come across this GP, it would have been left completely untreated. I have stopped mentioning it in appts with others unless I absolutely have to, because as soon as I do I am met with silence or misinformations.

I have to say I am extremely disappointed with the attitudes of many of the doctors here. I mostly come in now about things unrelated to my long term condition, and even then I am often not believed or they don't know what it is and have nothing to suggest. I have also been misdiagnosed. I find that I am often not listened to or taken seriously and this has resulted in problems such as refusal to give more antibiotics when an infection clearly hadn't gone, only for it to get worse, and failure to recognise a particular antibiotic wasn't working (both times I was ignored when I said something wasn't right). One doctor in particular was extremely rude when I wanted a symptom investigated and made comments about my mental health, insinuating I was anxious and thus imagining it. They made it clear any investigation would be done only to appease my anxiety (Fortunately after seeing someone else, I now know what this is and am receiving effective treatment for it). I now feel very hesitant to come in about anything now because of all this, and unless I can see the excellent GP mentioned above about something, I will usually just leave it and hope it goes away. If the GP I usually see leaves the practice, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do.

So I will say this, if you have anything which is not a very simple problem that can be easily fixed, then don't expect it to be taken seriously or have it properly looked at. Expect to not be believed when explaining the symptoms or your experience of them, especially if what you're suffering from doesn't perfectly fit the textbook definition. If they don't know what it is right away then it will most likely be dropped. My advice would be to keep trying different doctors until you find the rare few at the surgery who genuinely care and want to help.

Also getting an appointment is a nightmare. They release appts every day at 8am and 1:30pm, but if you aren't lucky enough to get through on the phone then they'll all be gone within about half an hour. It is very hard to get through and seems to be entirely down to luck whether you do or not. While some of the receptionists are lovely, some are also rude and unsympathetic. I fully understand there is a lot of pressure on the system but it is still frustrating nonetheless appointment wise for patients.