chipperThis requires a little bit of background. I'm a UK citizen but I'm living in the USA at the moment while I go to college. I have recently developed ovarian cysts which were diagnosed in the USA. I was told to just wait and that they would probably go away but I wanted a second opinion because I've had these for years but my doctor hasn't taken any notice until now (perhaps it's because I've turned 21? I've no clue). In any case that wasn't the sucky part. Cut for length (hopefully! Sorry if it's not).
The sucky part came when I tried to get an appointment in the UK at my family's GP. I went in at 1pm to make an appointment for later in the week and found that the receptionist's area was closed and dark. As I'm standing there wondering if it's just closed for lunch or something, a woman who was sitting at her desk in the dark told me they were closed. I asked if that meant I couldn't make an appointment later in the afternoon (still thinking they are just closed for lunch) and she informed me of their policy: To make an appointment one has to call at 8:30am and just keep calling untill you get through. They refuse to make appointments for anyone later than that. If you miss it you have to try again the next day and the next dat etc. until you get through. I wasn't annoyed at her because it's not her policy but it is strange.
The next day I call at 8:30 and I end up redialling for 20 minutes until I can make an appointment for the next day: inefficient and somewhat annoying, but not crappy. The doctor herself was what aggravated me: I told her that I had had cysts for a long time but had only just got them confirmed and was told that I should just wait a couple of months until they go away. I said that I wanted a second opinion because if I've had them for so long they're not likely to disappear in a couple of months. She confirmed what the original doctor said (ok, I'm not a doctor so I'm not going to dispute it) and asked me if I felt any pain. I said that I did and she told me that they shouldn't be painful and looked at me as if I was lying! I said that may be the case, but I knew that my cysts were hurting. She repeated in a condescending tone that they don't usually hurt and that I'm just constipated! As if I don't know the difference between the two types of pain. The doctor said I should eat more fruit and asked me to send in the next patient.
The conclusion: I'm annoyed by the ineffiency of the gp and by that individual doctor's treatment of me. I just don't know if I'm justified or not. If I am I'm not going to say anything to the gp anyway, but it'd make me feel a bit better.
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