Share review of Dr Zahraa Hasafa

Dr Zahraa Hasafa 2021-06-24 Person 1 5 0

I booked an emergency appointment with Dr Hasafa for my 15 month old daughter. I was appalled by the level of care my little girl received. I booked the appointment with the receptionist at 12pm on 22nd June after my 15 month old baby had a 39° temperature after finishing a course of antibiotics for a chest infection. I was of course concerned that the antibiotics had finished less than 24 hours previous and my daughter's temperature had now spiked, her cough returned and she was very sleepy and upset. The receptionist was very helpful and agreed that this was an emergency and booked the appointment for 4.30pm My husband and I arrived with our daughter at 4.25pm and were asked to wait in the waiting room. At 4.45pm, the receptionist apologised for the wait and said the doctor would be here soon. It was then that we realised she wasn't even present at the practice.  At 5pm, I asked if there was any update. The receptionist called Dr Hasafa who said she was 2 minutes away. The receptionist apologised once again and said that Dr Hasafa had taken her lunch break. It was at this point I questioned why I had, at 12pm, been allowed to book an appointment at 4.30pm if the doctor was at lunch. Unfortunately the appointment had been booked by a different receptionist so she was unsure. At this point, other patients began arriving for their appointments. They then had to wait outside for Dr Hasafa.  Eventually, at a little after 5.15pm, 45 minutes after our original appointment time, Dr Hasafa finally arrived. We were immediately called into her room. She was clearly in such a rush, she didn't even take her coat off. She was completely unprepared and on two occasions, had to ask the receptionist to collect equipment for her (ear thermometer probe covers and a tongue depressor). While using the tongue depressor, she was very forceful and my baby actually vomited. During the consultation, I was asked to remove her clothing so that she could listen to her chest. Due to her being so unwell, I asked if I could leave the clothing on and she could put the stethoscope underneath. Despite the clothing clearly being loose enough, I still had to remove it. My daughter's temperature was measured at 38.8°. Despite the clear wording on the NHS website which says: "A high temperature is 38C or more", I was told that this was perfectly normal and nothing to be worried about.  At the end of the consultation, I politely told Dr Hasafa that I was not impressed by her professional conduct. I explained that I had booked the appointment as an emergency for an infant with over 4 hours notice and I didnt think it was acceptable that she took her lunchbreak over this time. Dr Hasafa, who hadn't apologised for her lateness, only thanked us for waiting, said that she was stuck in traffic and had her own personal emergency to deal with. I do not think that this is a satisfactory response from someone in a caring profession. If, like myself on that day, a personal emergency means you cannot fulfill your role, you must leave and deal with that, not half heartedly deal with a sick child. As well as this, Dr Hasafa did not even phone the surgery to inform them of her lateness. Instead, I had to ask the receptionist to phone her and find out her whereabouts.  As we left at 5.30pm, there was a queue of at least 3 other patients waiting to see Dr Hasafa. I am truly disgusted with the level of care shown towards a 15month old baby at an emergency appointment.  I have had previous concerns about Dr Hasafa's professionalism. When my daughter was around 3 months old, she was suffering from severe reflux. Dr Hasafa prescribed Ranitidine. As I was concerned about my little one at the time, I had already researched Ranitidine and had seen on the NHS website that this was no longer being prescribed. I brought this to Dr Hasafa's attention at the appointment but she told me that wasn't correct and prescribed it anyway. I went to collect the medication at the pharmacy and was told, as I expected, that the NHS no longer prescribes Ranitidine.  Thus doctor is a disgrace to her profession