There is a Notice on the wall in my GP’s (General Practitioners) Surgery stating that if a patient talks about the surgery in a negative way on Social Media then this will be interpreted as “a breakdown in the relationship” and patients will be discharged. So effectively the Surgery has threatened all the patients by removing their care if they speak about the Surgery online.  It specifically mentioned Facebook (a medium that I avoid) but it was changed a week later to ‘ALL’ Social Media.

I did not think much of it, at the time, but it did make me realise that the Practice was becoming more and more threatening towards patients.

Every time I phoned the surgery (for an appointment) the secretary on the line was more and more hostile, varying from complete disinterest (in a horrible ‘I think you’re worthless’ way) to a stranger wanting to discuss your in-depth medical issues (despite having no qualifications to do so).  It became so erratic and often distressing that I started to feel sick about calling.

My Doctor is a good person who tries hard (despite how complex my condition is) so I do not want to leave my Surgery.

Today I walked in and there was a Notice saying that On-the-Day Appointments would no longer be given. Instead, over an unspecific length of time, a charge nurse (who will have no context or understanding of your case) would phone back the patient and access whether you had a right or need to get an appointment at all.  You will NOT be allowed to walk in and make an on-the-day appointment. Then those appointments offered (if you were deemed worthy) might not occur on the same day in either case.

I queried the receptionist about it (unfortunately it was the ‘I think you’re worthless’ one) who said “We need to think about the Doctors”

And I asked her “Shouldn’t you be thinking of the Patients?”

She shrugging, looking utterly bored.

So effectively there are no One-the-Day Appointments for people in my Town.

As someone who is chronically sick, during flare-ups, it is traumatic enough without having to beg a nurse for a mere appointment.  At a time when disabled people are being discriminated against by DWP, Tory Government and NHS cuts – you would expect some humanity from the NHS in Scotland. I see no benefit to restricting access to NHS services.

Am I wrong? Is it ok to threaten patients’ freedom of speech on Social Media? Is it ok to restrict access to on-the-day appointments and leave it in the hands of a nurse rather than a doctor?