Things that Irritate Me No.5 - My Doctors Surgery
It's been a while since I did one of these but after yesterday I felt compelled.
My phone call went like this:
Receptionist: "Doctors Surgery. How can I help you?"
Me: "Hi there. I am looking to get a doctor's appointment either this week or early next week."
Receptionist: "Bear with me one moment......I'm afraid the next available appointment is on the 20th February."
Me: "That's over two weeks away!! There is nothing before then?!"
Receptionist: "I'm afraid not. If you want to see someone sooner you will have to ring at 8am to see if we have cancellations for the next day."
Two weeks?! Thankfully I only have a sports injury rather than something seriously troubling like finding a lump. Now I know London is a has a high population density but I have lived in London all my life and I have never had this much trouble getting an appointment at a surgery before. I imagine if I wasn't cycling to work at 8am and I called I probably would get an appointment but I am not about to change my mode of transport on the off chance of getting an appointment sooner. I am getting the bus later this week so I will try then.
In my mind though it is a joke. And as for their call at 8am? Well when I tried to get an appointment at 8am when I had tonsillitis I constantly got the engaged tone. In the end I rang the emergency doctor on Saturday and managed to speak to someone fairly easily. Unfortunately I think my foot is likely to be diagnosed over the phone otherwise I would try to do that.
Another alternative is a walk in centre but honestly, should it be this difficult to see a bloody doctor? I have an appointment scheduled in for the 20th on the off chance I cannot get anything before then but I will be in trouble training wise if by the 20th I am still suffering with heel pain. As it is I am already worried I will not be able to train enough to compete.
My phone call went like this:
Receptionist: "Doctors Surgery. How can I help you?"
Me: "Hi there. I am looking to get a doctor's appointment either this week or early next week."
Receptionist: "Bear with me one moment......I'm afraid the next available appointment is on the 20th February."
Me: "That's over two weeks away!! There is nothing before then?!"
Receptionist: "I'm afraid not. If you want to see someone sooner you will have to ring at 8am to see if we have cancellations for the next day."
Two weeks?! Thankfully I only have a sports injury rather than something seriously troubling like finding a lump. Now I know London is a has a high population density but I have lived in London all my life and I have never had this much trouble getting an appointment at a surgery before. I imagine if I wasn't cycling to work at 8am and I called I probably would get an appointment but I am not about to change my mode of transport on the off chance of getting an appointment sooner. I am getting the bus later this week so I will try then.
In my mind though it is a joke. And as for their call at 8am? Well when I tried to get an appointment at 8am when I had tonsillitis I constantly got the engaged tone. In the end I rang the emergency doctor on Saturday and managed to speak to someone fairly easily. Unfortunately I think my foot is likely to be diagnosed over the phone otherwise I would try to do that.
Another alternative is a walk in centre but honestly, should it be this difficult to see a bloody doctor? I have an appointment scheduled in for the 20th on the off chance I cannot get anything before then but I will be in trouble training wise if by the 20th I am still suffering with heel pain. As it is I am already worried I will not be able to train enough to compete.
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