"After years of great service, it saddens me to write this.
I had been feeling unwell but put it down to being on the cusp of a cold. However I was getting headaches for about a week and a half and I had recently had a change in blood pressure medication. Last Saturday after another sleepless night due to this headache and a pain that had developed in my right calf, I came to the surgery to be told by reception that the doctor was fully booked and I'd have to come back another day. when I challenged this, I was asked why if I'd been feeling so ill, didn't I come in before, to which I then found myself having to explain why. I'm nearly 60 and was insulted by this.
Anyway, I left but still feeling rough, decided to go to the pharmacy next door where they took my blood pressure. It was 183/110 and a second reading was 179/113. With that, the headaches and the calf pain, I was ordered to return to the surgery. I did that and again came up with resistance and refusal to put my case to the doctor. I said ok, but if anything happens to me, my family will be aware of this conversation. It was only then my case was forwarded to the GP who basically said they couldn't fit me in and instructed to call 111. I did this while in the surgery car park. They were incredulous that i'd been turned away, and insisted I needed to be seen within 6 hours. A second clinician on a call back was equally puzzled as to why I had been turned away.
I was eventually referred to The Urgent Care Team in the same building as the GP where I saw a locum who was also "surprised" I'd been turned away given the readings which again confirmed on a further reading and took appropriate action to try to help get this down.
My issue is had I not persisted in trying to find out why I was feeling so bad, and going into the pharmacy, this could have had very serious consequences for me. This cannot be allowed to happen to anyone else. The locum took no more than 10 minutes seeing me, surely the GP had an obligation to do the same.
I do want to point out this had never happened to me before and I have never had to have cause to complain in 17 years of being a patient of Elm House."
–Anonymous, 20th February 2019
I had been feeling unwell but put it down to being on the cusp of a cold. However I was getting headaches for about a week and a half and I had recently had a change in blood pressure medication. Last Saturday after another sleepless night due to this headache and a pain that had developed in my right calf, I came to the surgery to be told by reception that the doctor was fully booked and I'd have to come back another day. when I challenged this, I was asked why if I'd been feeling so ill, didn't I come in before, to which I then found myself having to explain why. I'm nearly 60 and was insulted by this.
Anyway, I left but still feeling rough, decided to go to the pharmacy next door where they took my blood pressure. It was 183/110 and a second reading was 179/113. With that, the headaches and the calf pain, I was ordered to return to the surgery. I did that and again came up with resistance and refusal to put my case to the doctor. I said ok, but if anything happens to me, my family will be aware of this conversation. It was only then my case was forwarded to the GP who basically said they couldn't fit me in and instructed to call 111. I did this while in the surgery car park. They were incredulous that i'd been turned away, and insisted I needed to be seen within 6 hours. A second clinician on a call back was equally puzzled as to why I had been turned away.
I was eventually referred to The Urgent Care Team in the same building as the GP where I saw a locum who was also "surprised" I'd been turned away given the readings which again confirmed on a further reading and took appropriate action to try to help get this down.
My issue is had I not persisted in trying to find out why I was feeling so bad, and going into the pharmacy, this could have had very serious consequences for me. This cannot be allowed to happen to anyone else. The locum took no more than 10 minutes seeing me, surely the GP had an obligation to do the same.
I do want to point out this had never happened to me before and I have never had to have cause to complain in 17 years of being a patient of Elm House."
–Anonymous, 20th February 2019
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