"Abrupt communication at Furness dermatology dept"

Last year I visited Furness General about a growth on my temple, following a referral from my GP.

I waited over an hour past my appointment time, then was shown into the consulting room, where again I sat for quite a while on my own. The door then opened and a man and a nurse came in. He was talking and looking at a file of notes, he didn't acknowledge my presence at all. He then walked out of the room.

I sat on my own again for a while. He then returned to the room, sat down , still looking at his papers and said "What seems to be the problem?"

I said "Hello my name is... I'm pleased to meet you." He said: "Sorry, we don't get time for the pleasantries, it's a bit like a conveyor belt in here, we'd like to spend more time with patients, but it isn't cancer, would you like it removed?"

After having been very worried about the lump for several weeks, I did think the situation could have been handled more sensitively, however this wasn't to be. So I said yes, I would like it removed and stood up to go, explaining that I didn't want to take up any more of his obviously valuable time.

I left. I did lodge a complaint with PALS and I was told the doctor concerned was spoken to, but that he did have a bit of a reputation for this kind of interaction with patients. So I wasn't hopeful that anything would change.

I did have the lump removed some weeks later and this was a very successful procedure.