"Surgical at BPAS Merseyside"

I had a surgical abortion at BPAS Merseyside and I can't fault the service or staff. Being in a situation where you have an unplanned pregnancy is stressful and upsetting to say the least, let alone the apprehension and shame you feel going to such a clinic, but from the moment you walk in the staff are all totally professional, friendly and non-judgemental. The premises is set back on a residential street so I felt OK approaching it, the reception staff dealt with me quickly and in a friendly manner. The worst bit is the waiting room, it was quite busy and not enough space and I had to fill a confidential form out while sat right next to someone but I suppose you are all there for the same reason. The wait for the consultation was quite long, my appointment time was 9.30am and I don't think I was seen until about 11.30am but after that, the surgical part was quick. The staff upstairs in the operating theatre area are second to none- all made me feel at ease, and had a joke with me while I was being put to sleep. The next thing I knew, I was being woken up and I couldn't believe it was all over so fast! The recovery process is dealt with efficiently and then you are given tea and biscuits before seeing the discharge nurse. You are then free to leave. One bit of feedback I would like to give is, when I called BPAS to make my first appointment, I was referred to the Bedford Clinic at Liverpool Women's Hospital and I had a terrible time with them - first off, I wasn't registered with a GP and due to crossed wires with the BPAS operator, I thought self referral meant just that, but it doesn't - you do need a GP- so I was sent away to register (quite rudely) and given an appointment 5 days later (first delay). Then, when I went back for my consultation, I discovered that Liverpool Women's have a very strict policy by which you HAVE to have someone with you for your final appointment and because I only know work colleagues in Liverpool, I hadnt confided in anyone and had nobody to bring with me, so they said in order to have the treatment (at that point I was opting for the tablet treatment) I would have to stay overnight or go in on a Saturday and stay in a side room all day - both options were massively inconvenient and I got really upset. I also wasn't happy with the way I was spoken to by the nurse. So I rang BPAS a few days later and was told I could change to the Merseyside BPAS clinic who didn't mind me being alone, but the next appointment was two weeks away (2nd delay) - so I went for that and chose surgical just to get it over with. So my feedback is - could the BPAS operators dealing with women in Liverpool be trained to point out from the outset that the Bedford Clinic strictly requires you to be accompanied? This would of saved me a lot of stress, upset and time and I could of had the procedure at 6 weeks instead of 8. But other than that hiccup, I can't fault the service I had at the Merseyside clinic. Thank you.