Monday, February 21, 2011

Observations from a walk-in clinc......

Now the clinic technically didn't open until 9am. but when I rang on Saturday the guy told me to be there for 8:30am.  So when we got there, there were already four people in front of dh.

The receptionist was a man, who I actually thought was maybe the doctor, but no it turned out he was just the receptionist; he was a bit of a funny bunny but very efficient.  The doctor showed up around 9:15am and started the see patients shortly after.  So in the 45 minutes or so I was sat there I people watched.

Number 1 patient was a woman who had, had to have a filling done at the dentist; then her life went downhill fast after that.  Despite being to see numerous specialists she was still in a lot of pain?  Doctor spent very little time with her.

Number 2 patient was in sheer agony with her back and you could see she was in pain just by the way she was sitting and the expression on her face.  Mind you patient number 1 had pulled out her back also a couple of weeks ago.  The doctor was in with her quite a long time.

Number 3 patient.......she was quite the character, a movie star in the making I think, as she kept her sunglasses on all the time.  It might have helped if she took them off when handing in her health card as she gave the guy her sons health card, so he thought she had brought in her son to be looked at, so when she finally figured out she had handed in the wrong card, the guy had done all the paperwork only to have to do it all again {SIGH} 

So then Miss Movie Star plops herself down next to me and starts texting like a crazy woman, still with her sunglasses on; and then the "PINGING" started when she got answers back.  Now it wasn't a quiet "PING" it was a very, very loud "PING."  So I made the comment that I didn't know they could make such a loud noise.  Her reply was, her ears were blocked so she turned the volume up.

Then she got a phone call, so at this point we all discovered she was on deaths door with the worst fever and cold ever.  However she must have looked at me at some point and decided to carry on with the call out in the hallway.  Still she came back and again the phone rang and again we got a blow by blow account of how sick she was.  I was ready to ram that phone in a place where the sun don't shine!!!

When it was her turn to see the doctor he was in and out in a minute with her.....obviously she wasn't on deaths door, and if she had stayed at home and taken some cold medication she would be fine.

Patient number 4 was a dear lady with a sinus infection, you could tell that a mile off.  Again the doctor was in and out with her in minutes.  I was dying to tell her just to take Sinutab it would have been easier than sitting in that bloody clinic with a pile of sick folk..........oh and me!!

Patient number 5 was dh, again the doctor was in and out in minutes as we all knew he had Pink Eye.  However we needed to get medication as the poor man could hardly see, as his eyes are all red and puffed up.  The doctor did mention it was a shame it wasn't Halloween as at least he wouldn't have had to put any makeup on!!

Patient number 6 was another woman who was sniffing, so I guess another one with a cold.  Saw her out in the corridor a bit later on talking to another woman and she wasn't happy.  Doctor probably told her to go home take a couple of Tylenol and drink plenty of fluids...........

Patient number 7 & 8 was a mother with a little baby who was probably around 3 months old.  The mother was absolutely full of cold and so was the little fella.  Plus he had a rotten cough.  He was having such a time breathing and when she tried to breast feed him, you could really hear him gasping for air as he was trying to suck.

The other patients after that were not as interesting and by this point all I could think of was I hope I don't get sick.  So that is how me and dh spent a couple of hours on Sunday morning.  Could be worse I guess, but hope I don't have to go to a walk in clinic again any time soon!!

13 comments:

Leiani said...

People watching is a great pastime, especially when there's not much else to do!

DeniseinVA said...

Sitting in medical waiting rooms are always stressful. Hope your husband's eye problem clears up soon.

Valerie said...

Don't people KNOW how to deal with colds? I think if it's ever necessary I'll stick with the NHS phone-in system, it would be a lot easier than going to one of those walk-ins. Had to giggle at your story about Miss Movie Star. She sounds like a real drama queen.

MyBulletinBoard said...

Well, at least they didn't charge you for the entertainment!! Have you ever thought of turning your people-watching skills into a novel? ~Liz

Jane and Chris said...

I spend as little time as possible in Drs waiting rooms;I really am afraid of catching something nasty. When I go for my hospital appts Chris says I look like a frightened rabbit;I feel as thought they may grab me, shove me in a room and not let me go.
10 points for bravery there, Gill!
Jane x

Scrappy quilter said...

When we first moved to Wpg. we had to visit a walk-in clinic lots before we finally found a family physician. Like you we had some fun experiences. It was quite interesting. Hope your hubby's eye clears up soon. Remember it's VERY contagious. Not a fun thing to have. Hugs

Jackie McGuinness said...

People watching is a fave pastime of mine too.

That wasn't a bad wait for a walk-in.

Hope his eye clears up and you don't get it from him!!

Stella Jones said...

Ha ha ha. You certainly see life in those places, don't you. What did the doctor give dh to help his eye get better? Hope it responds quickly.

Laurie and Bill said...

Gill, I loved reading your observations! What fun! Not really, but very interesting!

Hope your husband's pink eye clears up soon. It is an awful thing to deal with.

I, too, hope you didn't catch anything!

angela said...

number three must of had man flu. We all know man flu is much worse than ordinary flu.

The Witch said...

Gill,
I hope also that you haven't contracted any flu from this walk-in-clinic. Hope Hubby is feeling better now that he has some medication.
I sometimes also people watch and it can be quite interesting. Do you every notice how most people never smile anymore. Check it out the nest time you people watch.

Grumpy Old Ken said...

Great stuff! A young lady I know had her sex life broadcast to the waiting room because the doctor had the speakers on!

Rose said...

Oh, I am so with you on the cell phones...just the other day was almost driven off the road by someone texting. If I had a big old clunker of a truck, I would just let them hit me!

{{{SIGH}}}

Tuesday was a mixed bag type of day. Had the appliance repair guy come again to install another circuit board in the fridge.  When hubby got...