I've never been one to gush about doctors surgeries - mainly because my past experiences haven't…read morebeen great. But I am currently in love with my new doctors surgery. I am an extremely infrequent visitor to the doctors and like most men I tend to let things get excruciating before I finally admit that I need to see a doctor. With this in mind I wasn't actually registered with a doctor it had been so long since my last visit. So just before Christmas I decided to get registered somewhere close to where I lived. I firstly went to a practice at the bottom of the Antrim Road which resembled a prison, luckily for me they weren't registering new patients, so I wandered further up the road and came to Salisbury Medical Practice. The practice itself resembles an old victorian manor house, welcoming, grand and warm. The doctors and staff evoke the same feelings. I went in to the practice on my first visit and to be honest I didn't even expect to be able to register but to my surprise they asked me to come back that afternoon to new patient registration (Thursday's). Once registered which was a simple process I was then able to book an appointment. To my complete and utter shock I was able to get one the next morning at 10am - Let's put this in to perspective. In 24 hours I was registered, booked and seen by a nurse and doctor. I can not recommend this practice enough - highly professional and caring. Easily the best medical experience of my life. For anyone worried about me, it's just a football injury!

This has been my GP practice for almost 20yrs now, the surgery has evolved during that time into…read morethe slick operation it is today. Routine appointments are often booked up well in advance but they have a triage system whereby when you phone in the morning you receive a call back from either one of the GPs or the Nurse Practitioner who will discuss your symptoms and decide how soon you need to be seen, appointments are kept specifically for this purpose. I have lost track of how many GPs actually work here but there are 6 consulting rooms around the main waiting area at the back, a small room opposite a treatment room & a larger treatment room beside reception. Most staff are polite, friendly & helpful. Self service check in allows for quick check in and a reduction in queues at reception. You can register for online services too which allows you to securely book/cancel appointments and order repeat prescriptions. You can nominate a local pharmacy to collect your prescriptions too to save a journey, very handy service indeed.

On holywood road, Holywood road surgery has been my doctors all my life, good service , electronic…read moreappointment check in system. Also order repeat prescriptions online, 2 day prescription wait, sometimes quicker, baby clinic held every tuesday Friendly staff and doctors.lots of information leaflets inside.

A superb GP surgery which is situated on lower Ormeau Road. The practice area covers a 10 mile…read moreradius surrounding the clinic and caters for postcode areas BT6, BT7 and BT8. A few years ago when I lived nearby I attended Ormeau Health Centre as my local GP Surgery. As with all Surgeries these days, getting an appointment unfortunately proved tricky, with waits of up to a few days or even weeks on occasion. Thankfully though, they did offer a convenient telephone line whereby you could ring and speak to a Doctor or order prescriptions. You can also book appointments online and order repeat prescriptions 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week via their website. Plus Ormeau Health Centre have a travel clinic if you need to get jabs for your holidays. I always found the Receptionists, Nurses and Doctors friendly, helpful and professional. I would give this clinic a full 5 star rating if it weren't for the long waiting times before obtaining an appointment. Plus only allowing 10 minutes per patient for a Doctors appointment feels very rushed. However I think this is an issue with the Health Service overall (or our politicians and government) rather than this particular clinic, which I always found excellent.

Great g.p. especially with kids! Chemist is also close by with car parking available. Waiting times…read moreare not as long in comparison to other places I have been. The chemist would usually have a display table on show which changes every month. For example today was smoking awareness and the benefits of quiting the help and information that is available to anyone wanting to quit and example nicotine packs to help tou choose the right approach.

I have been going to this doctors surgery since i was born and now my children go here. The…read moredoctors, nurses and other staff are fantastic. They offer loads of services e.g. bloods clinic, midwives, baby clinic and late night opening on mondays till 8.30pm which is fantastic if you find it difficult to get out of work for appointments. You rarely have to wait to long for your appointment and it has open surgery in the mornings. Also the building itself is very modern, fully accessible and very clean. There is a car park for patients but also its easy to get parked on the road outside.

Operative care was excellent. However pre and post surgery I was offered physiotherapy which I…read moredeclined. I did not receive physiotherapy. A skateboard was left in my room and I was told to use it, no supervision or advice. I was billed £139 for a view of the skateboard I didn't request or want. Having had a poor service from physio on a knee op six years earlier I had arranged for competent physiotherapy outside the UC. At no point did I sign for the service or was advised that I would receive a chargeable service. Needless to say I won't be paying and will forward the issue to my solicitor. To rub salt into the wound UC want to charge me for crutches which I had from my previous knee surgery. I begin to understand to meaning of the "Till on the hill" label. If they wish to persist I will se them in court.

If Dr Beattie wants to share this email with The Ulster Independent he can…read more I'm sorry for taking up any of your time in voicing my feelings. I'm much more comfortable flying back and forward to England to receive any treatment. Best Wishes Canx A Booking for Colonoscopy with Dr Beattie. Staff on Booking line overly assertive, spoke over me, insisted information that was not correct, hostile attitude as if hate their job there. Not reassuring, I was very ill and subsequently became wary of Booking in here going by staff attitudes. Never Experienced such at Kings Bridge Elaine on Bookings is excellent as are other staff.

I turned up for a pre arranged MRI scan. It was arranged by phone and a follow- up confirmation…read moreletter was promised. I got there almost an hour early. Parking anywhere nearby was a nightmare particularly with the extensive on - street roadworks that never seem to ever end. I was kept waiting 20 minutes beyond my appointment time without any acknowledgment or apology and this was despite the fact I'd been fasting for 5 hours. So by the time I got into the polo mint MRI contraption I was very far from impressed and a tad testy - this is private medical and the administration is shoddy. I was within 20 minutes. I held breath 10 times for between 15 and 20 seconds each time. I had headphones on to hear the stop breathing instructions from the radiographer and piped music in - between. A radio station. Once done I was told the results would go back to my consultant in 5 days. I had phoned them earlier in the morning to check which place I had to go as I didn't get the promised letter. I held on the call for 25 minutes before a human spoke. I told her I'd been holding a long time but she said 'oh you came through on the NHS referral number not the private patient one'. I was almost lost for words. A two tier private medicine service and I've no doubt the NHS is paying handsomely for this crap attitude to ill people. So I was then put through on the private patient line and only waited 8 minutes for a matter that took 12 seconds to complete. The most galling thing is we have a perfectly good NHS but it's being deliberately starved of resources by a lunatic Tory dogma for 13 years. They remain happy to pay 3/4 times the cost, using our tax pounds, to the private sector to undermine and destroy public medicine while the private sector donates to the Tory party and the boards of these places are populated by Tory supporters. The sooner all these bastards are sent packing the better.

So, after a week of eating rich food and drinking beers I decided that it was time to take some…read moreaction. I was browsing online looking at various different gyms and I came across Grove Wellbeing Centre. I was intrigued as I had driven past this 'council style' leisure centre before and never given it much of a thought. But after looking online at their facilities I decided to bite the bullet and join up there and then. The cost for a monthly membership is £26 (no joining fee) but for this monthly amount you get access to the gym, swimming pool, classes and sauna and steam room facilities. I think this is a bargain! I had my first session today and I was really impressed with what the gym had to offer. There were around 15 cross trainers, 15 treadmills, 10 bikes and a few step machines and that's just the cardio area. The free weights section consists of a whole rack of weights from 5kg to 50kg, 2 squat racks, 3 benches for free weights and a few frames for bar bells. The gym was quite for a Saturday, I'm hoping it stays that way. But over all I was really impressed with everything on offer. The whole gym and centre was sparklingly clean and the few staff members I came in to contact with were excellent. All in all a great experience, really looking forward to sorting my life out in this gym!

Having finally closed down the decrepit and rotten building that originally house the Grove Leisure…read moreCentre, as well as putting an end to the ancient library round the corner, the powers that be decided to amalgamate the two and combine them as the Wellbeing Centre. A bit fluffy I know, but what else do you call a facility that has a swimming pool, gym, library, coffee shop, computer facilities, dentists, podiatry and so on and so on. It's got the lot this place, and its spanking new to boot - I just hope it stays that way, because if the previous leisure centre is anything to go by, it could end up a shadow of it's former self. As it is, the pool provides 25metres to swin in, aqua jets, a toddlers area and sauna as well as rooms for other sports and activities. Would recommend it if you live in or are visiting the North Belfast area.