I'm on several medications and because, at the time, finding a regular doctor was next to impossible, I had to visit this clinic on a regular basis to get new prescriptions and I'll tell you, what a horrible, horrible nightmare that was.
To start out, the clinic just makes up its own hours. Don't be fooled at the hours they post on their door; it's a clear lie. Some days they'll close as early as 2pm and other days they'll open even an hour before it's posted time. Some days they'll just be closed on a regular day - sometimes for 3 straight days or more, and this isn't even on statutory holidays either!
Because of the nature of the medication I take, if I were to ever run out, I'd start to have withdrawal symptoms which makes my day to day life extremely stressful. Having the clinic closed when they're not supposed to be, on a day when I'm supposed to get a new prescription really frustrated me - even more so because the pharmacy is also attached to the clinic and its hours so I couldn't even ask for an emergency supply.
The clinic is also very small. Having the dental and the medical clinic separated on either side of the waiting area minimized the amount of seating as well. For a time, the clinic didn't care who sat where, but after a while only dental patients could sit in the dental seats and medical patients could only sit in the medical clinic seats. The receptionist would sometimes get upset if someone wanted to sit where they weren't "supposed to" EVEN IF the seats on the dental clinic's side were completely vacant.
Because of this, many people were left standing, some elderly and even some parents with their young children.
Then there's the wait and the first-come-first-serve policy that the clinic now follows. Initially the clinic didn't do this, but then they decided that NOBODY could make an appointment with ANYONE.
The wait sometimes got so ridiculous that once, I was told that I'd be helped in "About 3 hours". At that point, I just decided to go home, rest and come back later; there was no way I'd sit in a clinic for 3 straight hours just to get a piece of paper that says I'm eligible for a refill.
Not to mention that people would come in, sometimes in wheelchairs, crutches, or have some very visible disability or sickness and would get straight up denied entry by the receptionist because "we're full". Even regulars, who needed to get their medication were denied.
The doctors themselves aren't that bad at all if it weren't for the fact that the days the doctors were working were ridiculously inconsistent. This meant bad news for doctors who never saw some patients, especially regular patients, like myself, and had little to no given information about them. This lead to some doctors having differing and sometimes contradictory opinions, prescriptions and advice to give when compared to other doctors.
One doctor even denied to give me a refill prescription on the basis that she didn't know me. Forget about medical history and whatever's on your file at the clinic, if the doctor doesn't regularly see you, you'll outright get denied to things that keep your health in check.
Lastly, I need to mention the pharmacy that's attached to the clinic as I mentioned earlier. The pharmacist was a very nice guy and was very understanding and very helpful - until the moment you brought your business elsewhere. Because of the clinics absurd hours, I once had to get an emergency supply of my medication from a Shoppers Drugmart, which is right across the street from the clinic.
When I got my actual prescription, I brought it to the clinic's pharmacist and with a single word he said, "No". He didn't even explain why, didn't give me a chance, just "No". I assumed it was because he knew I had gotten my medication from a different location. Because I wanted to avoid confronting him and ultimately put this entire wreck of a clinic behind me I just left and never looked back.
For anyone who's reading this review and deciding to go here, ESPECIALLY if you need to see a medical doctor, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, go somewhere else.
Do yourself and your health a favor and avoid the Highgate Medical Clinic. read more
