Complaint 22/2/2017

Heatherview Medical Centre
Alder Road
Poole
Dorset

An appointment was made for me by a member of the reception staff at Fernside
Medical Centre on 29th December 2016 to see Dr Jee at 8-50am on 18th January
2017. This was after weeks of desperately waiting to see a doctor. Everywhere I
turn, I am told that my GP is my first port of call. I have been waiting
patiently for an opportunity to explain how hard my life has become living with
my untreated and constantly misdiagnosed condition. I am now at the point where
I am struggling to maintain any kind of daily routine.

I arrived at the surgery at 8-46am; I was Dr Jee's first appointment. I had seen
Dr Ponton call in his 8-50am appointment; she was seen and left whilst I waited.
I was called into the consultation room at 9-05am.

Dr Jee asked how she could help and I very briefly outlined that I was having
difficulty making a gastroenterologist appointment, gave a quick overview of
dietitian appointment and explained I had been suffering severe (some new)
symptoms from abdominal issues. I also told her I was feeling suicidal and had
been since before Christmas.

The phone then rang and she answered it; after a minute, she informed the caller
she was with a patient and would call him back. She put the phone down, looked
at her computer screen, read part of a letter (I have a copy of the letter
here), claimed there was something regarding this at reception and left the
room.

Five minutes later at 9-12am, very upset, I left her office to find Dr Jee,
again, on the phone. Informing her and the receptionist that I could no longer
wait, I left the building. Despite living with relentless pain and constantly
thinking about taking my own life, I still have commitments, which I try my
hardest to fulfill.

Dr Jee then phoned me and asked me to come back. I explained that I would not be
coming back. I had been there at my scheduled appointment time, I had tried to
talk to her but she had chosen to answer a phone call, after which she had left
me in her office so she could make another phone call. She then attempted to
justify her action by stating that she was the only doctor in the building -
something I knew to be a lie having seen Dr Ponton - and that she had time for
me now. How is that possible with her 9am, 9-10am and now 9-20am appointment
waiting to see her? I'd listened long enough to the staff member explain there
were no appointments that morning to another patient clearly desperate to see a
doctor.

I had one of your doctors ignore me and abandon me. She was not interested in me
or what she could do to help me. I had told her I felt like taking my own life
and, instead of talking to me about it, she walked out of the room, moved onto
another patient and then phoned me up to lie about it.

Is this what I can expect from any further appointments I have with this
practice? Is this the usual treatment from this surgery (or any other in the
practice) for dealing with people in a sensitive situation? Is this now the NHS
way of bringing down waiting times and/or treating vulnerable patients out of
their comfort zone? Are other patients aware of the kind of service they can
expect?