K Coleman

I’ve been a patient at this surgery for five years now and I’m in the process of changing to another practice. The opening hours are ridiculous for a central London practice — they close for lunch and the whole of Wednesday afternoons. The walk-​in smear clinic has been closed. I am never able to book with a specific doctor and have had consultations with probably at least ten different GPs over the years because of the regular use of locums. The practice is located in an area with many estates and there is a tendency for the GPs to view any problems as typical of the social-​economic conditions of the local area. If your child has behavioural problems or you are feeling depressed, it will be down to your parenting or wanting to claim disability benefits rather than any underlying medical cause. They are reluctant to refer to consultants (presumably because they get penalised financially if they do so) and will instead manage a condition for as long as possible by searching on google and reaching for whichever medication that is being recommended by the company supplying their stationery.