Dr William Porter

My daughter has been under Dr Porter's care since she was 3 years old - she was finally discharged last year aged 8. We built up a lovely relationship and my daughter has missed seeing him in clinic. We have always been offered the BEST treatment and had fantastic continuation of care. His manner and pastoral care has been second to none. My youngest daughter aged 16 months has just been referred to consultant dermatology and I hope and pray she gets Dr Porter as her consultant.

I did not feel this doctor was very interested in my case. I have suffered acne for many years and now my face is full of dark marks which are the scars left from the acne. I wanted to have some medication to stop the acne but also to get rid of the stains caused by it (or at least to make them less obvious). He prescribed some antibiotic for the acne which didn't help that much by the way. But he said there was no treatment to help with the stains, that it was because of my skin colour and he gave me nothing for it. I had talked to another dermatologist on line who had said there are treatments available but that I needed to be seen by a dermatologist personally to be assessed but Dr Porter didn't seem interested in helping me with that.

I went to see this doctor about an upsetting skin issue which had caused be to become depressed and affecting my ability to maintain physical fitness (I was too embarrassed to swim). The first thing he said to me was 'what job do you do?' I am a housewife and carer for my disabled son so don't have a proper job. So this question made me feel uneasy straight away. The question had nothing to do with my skin condition as was irrelevant. I felt very judged, like he had decided that because I didn't work I wasn't entitled to any treatment. My husband attended the appointment with me and I presume he thought neither of us worked as he was very rude to me. There were medical students in the room and he didn't ask if it was ok for them to look at my skin condition so I felt like I was being inspected and it was very upsetting. He could see I was crying and upset but he was still very rude,and said treatment was rarely available and I couldn't have it. I think he made his assumption too quickly that I couldn't have treatment. The skin condition affected me mentally (I have lost lots of weight and think I am developing an eating disorder, been put on antidepressants, and don't socialise as I am too embarrassed) and physically as I can no longer swim which is one of the only exercises I can do with my rheamatoid arthritis. He didn't even ask how it affected my life or the life of my family. Even if I couldn't have treatment he could of used a bit of empathy and understanding instead of making me feel like a piece of dirt. I waited 3 months for the appointment as I was in the consultation for about 5-10 minutes. The nurses was much more caring and seemed to try and make up for his rudeness. I am just glad that I did not shell out the £250 for the private consultation that I could of had 2 months earlier with him. Although maybe he would of been a bit more caring them. I came away feeling really upset and crying.