Bridgemary Medical Centre

Can't get an appointment. Phone wait times are in excess of 60 minutes and then appointments are all booked up Male Drs are rude and dismissive ( Dr Asbridge was the best one but he has left or retired. Same as Dr Mutch)

It is nigh on impossible to get a face to face appointment at this surgery. If you queue outside from 7.30am to be first in the queue at 8am they will say the appointments have gone to those on the phone. But if you phone you won't get through in time to get an appointment. Appointments can only be made at exactly 8am each day. Appointments can't be booked ahead, reception will always refuse this. Some of the reception staff are quite lovely - professional and helpful, but other reception / admin staff have upset me to the point of publicly breaking down in tears several times , so I avoid any contact with them as much as possible now as there is no way to know who you will get. When phoning for an appointment expect to wait in a call queue up to 80 minutes to get an answer, then be told to repeat the process the next day ad infinitum. This is especially difficult if you have a condtion where it is painful to hold a phone, but no allowances will be made. I gave up trying to phone several months ago because of this. You can do an econsult, which I found the only way to get any medical help whilst in employment. This might result in no response / being told you filled in the wrong form from the confusing list of forms and your issue therefore won't be considered/ a phone call from a nurse a month later / a phone call from a doctor / or a text message directing you to go to the chemist. This surgery seems to have stopped dealing with female specific healthcare. I have been unable to get help with menopause or related issues which has also led to me also being unable to get help from alternative providers at clinics elsewhere. I have a long term fluctuating mental health issue. I tried unsuccessfully to get help 3 times in the last year. I don't feel that it was taken seriously. I have resorted to phoning the Samaritans instead - at least they answer, but a lot of days now I do wonder why I am even bothering anymore. I have had a painful , enduring, physical condition which nobody can diagnose, and where I have been unable to tolerate the side effects of medication prescribed. After previously trying to get an appointment for about 2 months I was called by a nurse who told me that 'some people just have pain for no reason' and 'this is your life now, you need to get used to it'. She didn't listen to the side effects and their impact on my mental health, and threatened to put the phone down on me when I was obviously very distressed. This made me feel 'written off' and totally worthless. I had blood tests for anaemia. I asked at reception how to get the results. The receptionist said 'they look alright to me' and on that basis I was refused the opportunity to discuss the results with anyone qualified. It came to light recently (at a hospital appointment) that there was some anaemia, which should not be the case with someone who has already been taking daily B12 / iron supplements for over a year. Due to that receptionist's unqualified opinion I never recieved help for this despite feeling completely exhausted. Due to a consultant writing to the surgery I was sent a text message stating I had a morning phone appointment. Having waited in from 8am until 6pm the doctor did not call. Nor did anyone at the surgery take the time to let me know the appointment had been cancelled, why it was cancelled, or to reschedule it. If you can actually ever get an appointment with a doctor at this practice they are helpful and kind, as was the locum I managed to get a face to face appointment with about a year and a half ago, but the difficulties doing this even when they are the ones who have instigated and texted the appointment, have left me feeling like I have no real access to proper, GP provided, healthcare anymore. This leaves me struggling both physically and mentally and despairing of the future.