It’s not easy getting an appointment and meeting a GP isn’t great either. What happens next is either going to be worse, or a relief.
The whole process of getting a diagnosis and getting better or just checking out a possible ailment is fraught with anxiety.
It’s fair to say most of us don’t like it and it’s no mystery why.
The clinics we have – also called surgeries – are a necessity because we have to know, and we need to get well. There’s no alternative.
Such dependency results in some frightening examples of abuse, neglect, and compromising situations.
These stories span our society across the board.
In one example, in a walk-in health centre in Reading there’s a library of tales to tell about things gone wrong and matters gone awry.
At least, it’s the views of past patients who used its services.
I’ve heard a few of these stories, many years ago, and tried to use the services myself. I went as a patient but also to scope out the place.
It’s not a good look, and it doesn’t make it clear what the NHS is for.
A particular lady who worked there tipped off locals about patients who’d arrived for particular advice or to get treatment. It can be embarrassing to show body parts to GP’s but she didn’t care.
She texted out appointment dates and times, not to suggest time slots, but to fill in gaps in knowledge locals had of gossip they wanted.
In other instances patients weren’t sure if the GP’s were really qualified in the sense of a basic knowledge of healthcare in GP work.
The complaints were piecemeal and law enforcement found it difficult to build a complete picture. It wasn’t clear who was the problem as a few members of staff appeared irreverent in their practice too.
In my experience, the centre suffered a lack of coherence over its strategy and what it meant to be there, at the heart of the local community.
I found it responded both well and badly at times, but also that it wasn’t sure what to deal with and who to send elsewhere.
It may be due to an insufficient professionalism in their relative skillsets, or a lack of planning by the centre management itself.