Ormeau Park Surgery

Ormeau Park Surgery has been my port of call for about ten years now when feeling sicky bad. Like most people who register with doctors’ surgeries, this was the closest one to my house and I didn’t have any particular reason or recommendation for going there. It’s the NHS, you’re not going to get a vastly different service by going to the surgery further down the road instead.
I’ve been pretty happy with the level of care here, having gone there for everything from basic antibiotic prescriptions to check ups to managing longer-​term sicky badnesses. My doctor is generally Dr Cheyne, and I saw Dr Dean for a bit too who has now retired. Both have been very professional and helpful, and I never felt rushed when going there as can happen with some doctors. Dr Cheyne is always going on at me to give up smoking, but no-one’s perfect, even doctors.
Where I’d really recommend this clinic is for the exams nurse who does smear tests and general checkups for us ladies. As most women and indeed a lot of men will know, this is often the source of squealed embarrassment stories shared among a group of girls on a night out after the seventh or so cocktail. No need for embarassment here — the nurse is truly lovely and even the most reticent should find this a relatively easy experience. Apologies for the tmi, anyone who’s eating dinner while reading this, but well, she really is that good so if there’s anyone out there a bit squeamish about the whole thing, do register here.
My social duty/​elderly nagging over for this review, I’ll turn to what I don’t like about this surgery, which is the waiting time to get through. Often getting to speak to a receptionist means over an hour or even two ringing back every few minutes, which is not good when you have tonsilitis and are feeling like crap. One receptionist in particular really seems to think it’s her job to prevent any patients bothering the doctors — she told me once when I had to get injuries documented that I could just tell the doctor about them over the phone rather than coming in to be examined. That would have gone down well with the compensation lot — ‘Yes, I’ve got, em, three, no two, broken legs, and a broken arm, and I keep lapsing into unconsciousn…‘
The surgery recently did a major survey about this and the results are up in the waiting room, so hopefully things should improve soonish. Dratted NHS. (But brilliant as a whole, so keep your mitts off, Cameron.)