The BMI London Independent is a very good hospital. I know it is private health care but to me this…read moreis how you should be treated on the NHS. The old adage of getting what you pay for is very true here. The staff in reception and administration were all very helpful and polite. Do not get me wrong I have met some very polite and hard working (over worked) medical professionals in the NHS but this place is full of them. My consultant was a very knowledgeable gentleman, who true to his word, performed my procedure without a hitch. I know going private does not guarantee this but it did make me feel that would be the ultimate outcome. The day of the actual surgery went without a hitch from the moment I arrived to the moment I left the hospital. I would say that hospital food still leaves something to be desired but the food I got here was at least edible

Came to this hospital with a large lump. I was referred to by NHS. I arrived in October time I…read morethink, doctor looked at my lump and went - "I'll do a MRI and have this out easily in a week". MRI goes ahead, I get a phone call "you'll have to wait 16 weeks for surgery". Me: "ok but you said a week?" Waited about twenty weeks and sent numerous *unanswered* emails to chase. Lo and behold I get my surgery, they booked the wrong anaesthetic, they booked local and I'd already eaten and it was meant to be a general. I had to wait in the hospital three hours for my stomach to be empty. Before the surgery the surgeon is telling me how he's dealt with Qatari royalty and Saudi royalty and had over 3,000 operations and how lucky I am to have him. I awake post-surgery. Lump is still there. They say "oh you need a limb specialist, it's too entangled in muscle and nerves". Yeah, well the MRI could have told you that and sixteen week wait probably caused that sort of rapid growth (referred it to my GP a year ago). Then I'm told "don't worry I'll make some calls and get this sorted, I don't want you having to make the referral again through your GP". I wait 8 days for the calls to be made and then I'm told "no sorry you have to refer this back to your GP". Ok, once again conflicting information. Everybody at this hospital just talks. Talks a big game. They looked at my lump, says they can remove it easy peasy, says how they dealt with Middle Eastern royalty and how amazing a surgeon they are and not one person has effectively dealt with the issue. I was sliced into and put on anaesthetic and the issue remains. It's embarrassing. That's the medical side of things. The administration is abhorrent. Appointments booked without my consent, voicemails left on somebody else's phone about my PRIVATE medical condition, emails unanswered, wrong dates booked, wrong anaesthetic booked, appointments delayed, cancelled, moved around. Your hospital is a shambles. It's a shambles. I'm glad I'm NHS because I would never ever ever pay privately for the shoddy service. What winds me up most is the big game that was talked "I'll remove this in a week" "I did royalty surgery" "I'll get you a limb specialist" "I won't refer you back to your GP" "this surgery should be easy". Every thing you said was not carried out, literally every single thing you said was not done. Imagine waking up from an anaesthetic and seeing the lump still there after some surgeon was just telling you how EASY this operation should be for them. Embarrassing...

Innumerable mistakes to do with my medication/doses. It took over six months to get my monthly…read moreprescriptions correct. Staff on the front desk are mostly useless and at times downright rude. I have had to explain simple medical terminology in notes from my private GP to a GP at this surgery. I have just rang to ask for help with regards to ordering my prescription online, explaining that I am abroad and need the prescription ready for when I arrive back. I was not asked for any of my details nor the medication in question - you'd imagine this to be rather important information. The response was: "sorry we don't take requests over the phone" ... yes but can you help me register online? "No, I can't see your screen. Please come into the surgery" .. I am abroad "well when you are back you can put a request in at the surgery"

I'd had much better experiences with this surgery since 2013, coincidentally, the same time as I…read morewas allocated to a new GP. Waiting times have been cut down, and my GP listens and does seem to take my ailments seriously, no matter how embarrassed I am to speak about them. I've been able to get appointments within a few days (it helps that my office is near enough that I can go during working hours) and the online booking system is pretty decent as well, allowing you to book and cancel appointments online. The only complaint here that I have now is that, if you have to call for any reason whatsoever, the chances are that you will spend a long time on the phone on hold. I suppose that it's inevitable though. The NHS is a free service available to all, and it's only to be expected that it's busy!

The staff who work in the Beareavemet Office were very sensitive and expressed their condolences'…read more Their were helpful in giving advice on what to do next in the case of arranging a funeral which we had never done before. We needed to find the ward in which the deceased was on, due to a little confusion they cound not find the patient information but found it in the end which was very befiecial to us. To go to the Mortuary you had to book an appointment, which we did over the phone. The guy who worked at the Mortuary told us to wait a bit while he got the deceased ready for us to view. You go into a small room were your decesesed is laid peacefully in a robe. Outside of this room, is two chairs and a small table laid with leaflets on information funeral arrangements and charities that help with the cost, also a box of tissues. If you needed to come again to visit you just book an appointment through the Breavemet Office. If I come here again, I hope it's for a birth of a child.

As a foreigner that's accustomed to the level of care from my own providers, this hospital is AWFUL…read moreand I hope that I will never ever require any medical care when I'm back in the area. The safety of their patients from a security standpoint is NONEXISTENT. There were people that were clearly high out of their minds walking coming straight from outside the hospital in/out of the area where patients were being seen. It was concerning bc they would just walk around blurting out words and approaching people multiple times (myself and my mom included) asking for random things like a glass of water. When people The staff was ok. They were nice but they're clearly understaffed and their faces show it. I don't know if this is normal in this country but they would give people IV's in the hallway, they didn't even administer any of this stuff in a room! I didn't notice any of the staff washing their hands... After COVID and everything we've all experienced the past few years, we just didn't learn a darn thing.

The Mission Practice is my local NHS health clinic and like all NHS clinics is has good and bad…read morepoints. Good points: Free, impartial medical advice and a good team of nurses and GPs Bad points: Typically over-booked - it always takes ages to make an appointment even if it is just with a nurse, which is why I often find myself having to venture to their Thursday morning drop-in women's clinic for silly repeat prescriptions. But all in all, it is a clean effective health clinic and definitely a lot better than some other London ones I have unfortunately had the chance to experience. God, I miss my private healthcare.

Went in for our sons 18 month appointment that was scheduled. Without a call the small department…read moredown the hall thats dedicated to Child Services (which you would never know exists unless you ask) decided to close on that day for staff "Holiday". There was a number plastered on the door to call. When called the phone behind the locked door rang unanswered. After inquiring again with an unresponsive reception staff a GP decided to see me and my son. She then tried to give my son vaccinations which he had already received. After pointing this out she looked at his records and apologised saying "your right hes already had these." what a complete joke. good luck residents of Bethnal Green.

I spent my first few weeks in London using free passes to various gyms, so I've tried out a fair…read morenumber of the gyms in Central London. I have to say that Fitness First Thomas More is my favorite of the reasonably-priced gyms, and I'm not just saying that because it is conveniently right near my house! This gym has all the basic necessities: a big cardio area where you can find a free machine even at 6 PM on a week day, a large downstairs weight room area full of grunting men sitting around on their butts flexing their muscles in the mirrors, a spin studio, a large studio used for group classes, and a small pool. The facilities are kept clean and the locker system is really nice because you don't have to carry around a heavy lock. There are some negatives, like the fact that they keep the gym too warm for my liking, and the pool- which is probably around 15 meters- is a bit small for actual lap swimming. And the facility closes at 4 PM on weekends which is way too early in my opinion. But what really makes this place great is the people that work there. The front desk attendees are so nice and actually make an effort to get to know customers, so stopping by to see them brightens my day. The group instructors are super motivational and make sure you get a tough workout in a welcoming environment. And best of all they aren't obnoxiously pushy or stalkerish in trying to get you to sign up. Prices are transparently listed on the website (unlike most gyms), and based on my experience they are fairly reasonable for a gym in the area. I'm very glad to live so close to this location; now I just need to convince them to extend weekend hours to 6 or 7 PM!

Not value for money take your cash elsewhere Staff have very…read morebad attitude, customer service non existent. Facilities has not improved it got worse and the opening time had been reduced. HE CANCEL THE CLASS WITH OUT NOTICE, NOT COVID MESURES THERE - No enforcement of social distancing. - wifi doesn't work or is too slow to use. - gym closes at DIFERENT TIME THA ON THE WEB which is when lots of people are free from work and able to gym - poor range of equipment, missing lots of basic machines. - Equipment is very old. - weights area is overcrowded and small, cardio/warm-up areas are oversized and thus empty

I've been feeling rather poorly today, so I decided to try out the Whitechapel Walk In Centre…read moreadjacent to the Alexandra wing of the Royal. It's essentially a sanitary mobile shack. Once submitting my details, I only had a 20 minute wait before I was taken into a consulting room. Now unfortunately, my medical records are at another London hospital, and these clever folks at the NHS have no way of syncing up systems even in London alone. So I was given the helpful instructions to go to my previous hospital and sit in A & E for four hours, alongside a seasonal warning about swine flu. Seven cases already in Tower Hamlets and rising fast, hooray I can't wait for winter!