"Barnet Hospital dermatology department"

Anything else?

Ah, yes, the medical appointment at Barnet Hospital dermatology department. Yesterday morning. Not a great success, unfortunately. The appointment was for the dermatology clinic of a very experienced consultant at Barnet Hospital. But, and this is hardly unusual, I didn't see the consultant I saw "a member of her team", for which read a much less experienced practitioner. This person helpfully explained to me that my conditions are incurable and chronic. I helpfully explained back that, since I had already said that I had suffered from them for 30 years, I did indeed have a fair idea that they were incurable and chronic. This person then also helpfully explained that he had seen much worse. While expressing my deep gratitude for his observation, I opined that this was really neither here nor there and, indeed, completely irrelevant to the matter at hand. It has to be said that he started to go a bit quiet after that. Then proceeded to write nine prescriptions without explaining to me how they should be used. Naturally I avidly read the patient information leaflets ... one of these drugs is an asthma medicine, and another is for stomach ulcers. Thankfully, I am sufficiently well-informed to understand that drugs of that type can be used "off-label" for skin conditions, where the underlying bio-chemical processes may be similar. I have no idea what a less well-informed patient than I would have made of it. Presumably they would have thought the doctor was completely off his rocker ... "I went in for my skin, and I have one drug for asthma and another for stomach ulcers??" Oh! And on top of all that, there was a third party present throughout the consultation. I don't know who he was. My permission was neither sought nor given.