Alfriston Surgery 2016-12-12 Person 1 5 0

I am extremely saddened and disappointed with my last visit to see my GP, Doctor Francis Nicholls. Not only was his tone patronising, he became very argumentative with my simple request: I wanted to be referred to a specialist. As a sufferer of deep endometriosis, it is my right to asked to be referred to one, and all he did was question this decision, placing doubt when I informed him of the dissatisfying treatment I was getting at Eastbourne hospital, where my post-op appointment took months to happen due to hospital rescheduling. I pleaded, and even begged to Doctor Nicholls to help me out, acknowledging the hard times the NHS was going through, but having to insist I needed his assistance in getting treatment that would improve my quality of life. He wasn't interested in hearing the symptoms I was suffering, even told me to "get pregnant" as a treatment for the disease, when, due to my endometriosis, fertility is something I don't have. I still cannot believe he offered “pregnancy” as a treatment, as medicine. Pregnancy only puts endometriosis symptoms on hold, they come back after a woman stops breastfeeding. The “cure” for this disease doesn’t exist, and pregnancy is not a cure. His patronising remarks insisting I honoured my subsequent appointments at Eastbourne hospital were also upsetting: as a 37 year old woman I am aware of how necessary those slots are for people who need them, and I had to re-assure him I would behave in an acceptable manner and cancel them if I didn’t need to go. It was really upsetting to see my GP roll his eyes and tell me that the referral would very likely amount to nothing. If there’s nothing he could do, I could have done with feeling listened to. Doctor Nicholls failed at making me feel I was in safe hands, he failed at offering me support, he failed at trying to understand what living with endometriosis really is.