I'd say Gower Street Practice is pretty acceptable. Although, having no UK-based surgeries with which to compare it, I wouldn't necessarily take my word for it. Just sayin'. But if you still want to, by all means read on.
The physicians are concerned for you yet hurried and therefore get you in and out of the office in ten minutes. They strike an unusual and slightly unnerving balance between making you feel as if you're just another blip on the radar of the appointment day and as if you're a real person with potentially real medical problems. The front-office staff work efficiently. Since the office is in a primarily student-populated area, the waiting room is full of pamphlets that run the gamut from warnings against chlamydia (you whore) to instructions on how to cook healthily for yourself to stave off the obesity epidemic (booga booga). It's also full of students and the odd pensioner.
Conveniently, the office runs walk-in clinics every day for those people who seem to be personally opposed to setting doctor's appointments. Although, if this applies to you, be prepared to wait for a long time. And then to use the toilet during your wait because of the four cups of coffee you had before arriving. And then promptly cut the flesh of your hand open and rip your fingernail off on the toilet lock because it's fidgety and gets stuck while you're trying to lock it whilst fidgeting yourself. And then need to book yourself in to go see the nurse on top of seeing the doctor to get your wound cleaned and bandaged.
This is all hypothetical, of course.
I can't say I've ever got a same-day appointment like another reviewer, but the option of going to the walk-in clinic is always there. The nurse also conducts walk-in clinic hours for the prescription of contraceptives and the performance of smear tests. But of course the one time I went specifically to get my cervix swabbed she was too busy and made me set an appointment for the following week. I'm not gonna lie; I was pretty pissed about that. Not only did I reserve time in my day to make a special trip to get my vagina probed, but I was turned away-- My vagina, rebuffed; its pride, wounded. read more