"Parking was rubbish but blood test was great"

My gp told us that my daughter needed a blood test.

She has never had one and was scared.

Parking here was ridiculous.

At 9am we had to wait and wait for a space.

It is a joke.

I told the staff at the desk that my daughter was in for a fasting blood test and hadn't eaten breakfast and she was nervous.

I thought that she would be kind of high up on the list to go in, but it still took 50 minutes to get in for the bloods.

I was a bit annoyed.

The person who took the bloods was great with my daughter though, they explained everything and was funny and kind with it and put my daughter at ease.

They made her relaxed.

This person chatted through the procedure and put in a butterfly catheter so it would be easier and less traumatic for a first blood test.

My daughter left there thinking that it was really easy and nothing to worry about should she ever need it done again.

This was all down to the time and patience and effort spent with the phlebotomist.

They didn't rush or have attitude, and was great with kids.

An asset to the clinic, they seemed to actually like their job.

Everyone else just seemed to be going through the motions.

Especially the reception staff.

It is a shame.

When I needed a blood test the week after, I went to Harold hill medical centre, was parked and done in 10 minutes.

Result.