St Andrews Health Centre

I have been a patient at this practice for a number of years now and have mostly always had a good experience. I cannot fault the Doctors at this practice, they are excellent and always go above what is asked of them. This is especially accurate for Dr Everington. They are compassionate, attentive, reassuring and generally everything a Doctor should be. I do not have a bad word to say about them. The admin staff however, I have more often than not experienced the opposite. They are generally disinterested, and really let the practice down. One particular experience I am referring to is when I arrived for an important blood test I was booked in for. One of the receptionists was telling patients arriving to check in via the electronic self check in screens as there was a queue for the desks, so I did. The time went by and I noticed I had now been waiting for over half an hour. I went to queue up at the desk and as I got to the front the receptionist called out my name and I stepped forward and answered. She then immediately informed me that my appointment was cancelled. To my shock I questioned why, and she gave a disinterested reply of 'it was cancelled and somebody called you on Monday (2 days prior). Apparently your phone was constantly engaged.' I checked my call history to make sure and informed her that I had not received any calls, my phone had been on all day and I had no contact from the surgery at all. She responded with 'well I'm just telling you what's on the notes'. Then she offered to rebook my appointment for a week later, and I asked if there were any sooner appointments because the day and time she had given me were not convenient as I was in very important lectures at University at that time. She then said yes there were sooner appointments the day before, and I accepted the earliest possible as I informed her I would like to get this health issue sorted out. She also asked me what the appointment was for, and I said I wasn't aware, it was just a blood test. She also asked if I checked in with self-check in and then commented that if I had come to the desks then she would have been able to inform me that my appointment was cancelled. She gave me my appointment time and then I left. I was very shocked and annoyed at this encounter as not only did nobody inform me that my appointment was cancelled, nor was I told on the screen when I checked in, I had taken time out of important lectures and teaching at Uni to sit in a waiting room unnecessarily. I was left to sit there for over half an hour without being told, and then eventually when I was informed the receptionist didn't seem to act at all apologetic. The communication in this surgery seems to be what severely lets them down, and I should have been informed prior to the day; at the very least when I arrived and checked in - whether I checked in by self check-in like I was told or not, the staff should be aware somewhat of who is sitting in their waiting rooms.
Original Comment Report...