The Saltscar Surgery 2017-09-27 Person 1 5 0

Dr oflanagan is a lovely doctor if you can get to see him, he has been my GP for many years however things have gone from bad to worse over the last few years, the receptionists have always been somewhat arsey but now it seems there mission is to deter patients completely. I had been feeling under the weather for a little while, generally tired and short of breath. I thought I might be a bit unfit but would check with the GP before taking up some fitness regime. Dr O'F arranged blood tests and an X-ray. The bloods were sent away. The next day I had a call at work from a very young receptionist to say my bloods were abnormal and she made me an appointment with dr O'F for 8 days time. I asked what the abnormality was, she said she didn't understand the report but said "low ferritin levels"??? When I got home from work I found the chemist had tried to deliver a prescription I wasn't expecting so I rang them to be told they were iron tablets which the GP had prescribed after I saw him today (I never even spoke to a doctor never mind saw one. Obviously the next thing I did was to look up the ferritin situation on the internet and was terrified to read that it was probably cancer. Bearing in mind it was 8 days until my appointment I rang the surgery to ask if a doctor could ring me to explain the results. A most unpleasant mature receptionist told me under no circumstances could I have a telephone appointment as they were for triage only, when I said why I wanted it she basically told me there was no way I could speak to a GP as I hadn't been eating properly!! In the end I was allowed to see the nurse practioner who seemed concerned and ordered my bloods, the nurse who took my bloods asked if the nurse practioner had "referred me". No, as I had an appointment to see dr O'F so she was leaving it down to him basically. To cut a long story short I was diagnosed with an ulcerated bowel cancer and had to had a good part of my colon removed in a major operation. Fast forward to coming out of hospital and I rang the surgery for a sick note as advised by the cancer nurse only to be told that it wasn't their responsibility and I had to go through the consultant. I rang the bowel cancer care coordinator at the hospital to be told it certainly was the GPs responsibility, she rang the surgery herself as I was feeling so ill and just couldn't cope with the hassle. Lo and behold a sick note was ready for me the next day. In a nutshell some of the longer serving receptionists have no patient skills or compassion whatsoever. They are jobsworths, rude and indifferent to patients, they are unpleasant people and I dread to think they are training up new staff. I haven't really used any of the other GPs but Dr O'Flanaghan is a lovely family doctor if you manage to get to see him. One thing is for sure I am only staying with this surgery until he retires then I will be going elsewhere.