"Where are the DCN customer services?"

Having visited DCN (Division of Clinical Neurosciences) in Edinburgh's Western General this week, it was with great relief that I realised the appointment was scheduled with a professor, rather than the somewhat distracted doctor I had visited on two prior occasions. I say distracted because most of the first consultation was spent with him fiddling with his mobile phone.

Unfortunately, this recent visit has lead me to believe that Neuro Sciences only accept practitioners who have no interest in patient care. There was less of a consultation and more of an interrogation that took place, where I felt badgered into answering his questions in the way that he wanted them answered. The result of which was that he could then write me off as a fraud, saying that there was no way I was suffering from the illness they had first diagnosed. Only one symptom was focused on during the interrogation, and whenever I tried to elaborate on other symptoms I was told that was not relevant.

At the end, he told me to continue with the medication they had prescribed "just in case", however, the medication does not agree with me and because of it I have been off work for the last four months. This experience has lead me to the conclusion that, regardless of what he may say, perhaps I should stop the medication, after all, he is saying I'm not in any immediate danger, isn't he?

As my general practitioners at the local health centre are all amazingly caring people I would have thought this to be just my bad luck, however, I have since spoken to many other patients who have had similar experiences at the DCN in Edinburgh's Western General and have heard many stories of people being told, in not so many words, that they are imagining their symptoms. It seems to me that the entire department could do with some training on simple customer care.