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AIBU?

To complain about this doctors surgery

44 replies

frogspoon · 06/10/2013 15:50

My local GP has an 8am-8pm walk in service 7 days a week, including Saturdays and Sundays.

This morning, I went to the GP this morning to get an urgent appointment. As it is a walk-in centre at the weekends, I was prepared to wait an hour or two (average wait is 1- 1 1/2 hours).

However when I arrived at 10:30, even though there were only 3 people waiting in the surgery (so about 30 empty seats) the receptionist told me that the doctor was "fully booked for the whole morning's surgery", and that I would need to come back at 1:00 to register (after the doctor's lunch break). They would not let me make an appointment for the afternoon in advance.

I came back at 12:50, expecting to be able to register and be able to see a doctor. When I arrived, the same receptionist told me that the doctor had only just gone on her lunch break, therefore would not be seeing patients until 2:00.

I asked the receptionist how, if at 10:30 only 3 patients were waiting to see the GP, how she had managed to take 2 1/2 hours to see them, unless she spent almost an hour on each patient. The receptionist then told me that a number of people who had come at 9:30 had been told to come back at 11:30, and be registered then.

So I am now very angry because the receptionist lied to me in telling me that the doctors list was full, and they were not accepting patients until 1:00, when actually they registered several at 11:30, and that they told me I should come back at 1:00 when actually I would still have to wait an hour before the doctor was accepting patients. I would rather they were honest with me at the start, and I would have gone somewhere else.

In the end I gave up, went to an Urgent Care Centre at the local hospital and was seen and treated within 45 minutes.

AIBU to complain, firstly because the receptionist lied to me, and probably to several other patients as well (I saw some very disgruntled people walking out of the surgery as I was walking in) and secondly because they are extremely inefficient. Sending patients away and telling them to come back later has not eased the demand at all, if anything it made it worse, because in the afternoon there was both the patients who had been told to come back later, and any new patients who had come in the afternoon.

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SpottyTeacakes · 06/10/2013 16:09

If they haven't got room though, they haven't got room. She knew she had x amount of people coming in at 11:30 if she had told you this you would have wanted to come back then too and potentially take their place.

I think it's silly that people are allowed to leave and then come back they should all just sit in the waiting room, like you were wanting to do, but I don't think it warrants a complaint. I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it.

They're obviously really busy and the poor receptionist probably has to deal with 90% of the patients being rude to her and stressed out doctors all day.