Thistle Medical Practice

"Absolute joke of a place. I've been suffering with chronic back and knee pain, shooting pains and numbness for the past 3 years and have been told on multiple occasions I am not in pain but may be depressed. My mental health is completely fine and the only thing affecting that is the sheer incompetency of the so called doctors in this practice. There has been no investigation into what it causing my pain other than routine blood work or scans which I have paid for privately and even with that Thistle doctors seem unable to read any correspondence sent to them. I have just left the practice in tears after being told that a referral that I have been waiting for from September is now not happening, with absolutely no communication so if i didnt make an appointment today i would still be none the wiser. The female doctor who i seen today was again unwilling to investigate why im in pain even though she was advised there are hereditary conditions within the family and suggested, in regards to new pains and numbness in my head/face that it's actually a good thing and nerves working and we should wait and see how it goes before maybe trying amitriptyline which if she had even bothered to look at my file I have already been taking for the past 3 years. Also every time I phone for more painkillers I am told they are not a long term soloution, even though they won't try to find the route of the problem never mind the soloution."

"Where do I even start..... My own experience of going through a miscarriage, calling and speaking to the most rude receptionists and being told "sorry nothing we can do for you" was absolutely shocking. This was back in 2015 and despite the number of times i asked to complain and speak to Practice Manager, i was never passed to this person nor did this person call me back. Still waiting on that call btw!! Fast forward to Jan 2019, my 2 year old son was very unwell and could not breathe properly. After fighting for an appointment, they reluctantly let me in but told me the doctor was stuck in traffic. I spent over an hour in the waiting room with a crying toddler. The receptionist actually came over to me and asked me to calm my son down! The kid was in distress and she was so inconsiderate and showed no empathy towards to situation. When I was finally seen by a doctor, who was also very rude, but thankfully seen the situation was bad with my son - he asked for an ambulance to be called. Now, more recently, last week (Jan 2023). My mum suffers from very high blood pressure and when she got through to the surgery, after ages, she was told that someone would call her back. No one did. No doctor called her back despite her waiting by the phone. Next day, she rang again and this time the doctor did call her back and reluctantly gave an appointment which she attended. At the appointment, my mum was telling the doctor about her symptoms and how she is feeling when she was abruptly stopped and told "no sorry that's not linked to your blood pressure" to which she replied "but it is something that is happening when i get high bp. What happened to doctors being there to help people? I have nothing good to say about this shambles of Thistle Medical. The staff are not trained and I would hate to see Karma treating their loved ones the way they treat ours. Practice Manager - If your reading this - Your not doing a great job of taking note of all the feedback that is being given."

"I have never in my life dealt with a more hopelessly useless organisation. It's never a question of whether they'll screw up, the only surprise is discovering the new and creative ways they'll find to make our lives worse each time. Ordering a prescription is a total lottery, it might be at your pharmacy the next day or, more often, it'll take a week to ten days. Don't even bother trying for anything complicated like a jury excusal, they'll be full of promises until the last day to submit it has passed and you're in bother with the court system. The reception staff - where do I start? They are rude, have zero compassion, won't be flexible on their idiotic rules in even the most serious of extenuating circumstances, and if you dare call them out on it they'll send your prescription to the wrong end of town out of pure spite. And any request you do happen to by some fluke get past them is done so begrudgingly you somehow hang up feeling as though you've asked for something utterly unresonable like ask for an appointment. I'm posting this in the vain hopes they'll remove me from their books so I can sign on with a practice which actually wants to help patients, rather than a surgery whose raison d'etre seems to be to get as many people as possible to jump from the nearby railway bridge. Edited to add: I have no intention of calling your switchboard thanks, in fact I currently have no intention of going near your reception as your staff have reduced me to such a state that the thought of going back causes me severe anxiety. Thankfully the main building reception staff have very kindly offered to act as an intermediary and bring down such documents as I need to collect."

"Place is a joke. I moved to airdrie 4 years ago. Maybe this is my third gp surgery and they are awful. They speak to you in a really horrible way. They make you wait so long too. Never have I had an appointment and not been seen for at least 40 mins after the appointment and this is before covid too . Called today regarding a prescription and the person was so rude to me. The receptionists sit and chat to each other so loud ignoring patients and using bad language. If I could give 1 star I would"

"Left 1 star only because I've had to. Imagine having to call your doctor for advice because you tested positive for covid, isolated and after your 10 days isolation your still testing positive and still have symptoms when you call the doctor surgery for advice the medically trained receptionist tells you that the doctor has more important matters to deal with than a covid sick note and to call back tomorrow! A sick note that was not requested, it was advice about being safe to return to work where social distancing is NOT and option. I'm curious to know what is important enough to warrant a doctor or nurse appointment these days since more times than not I've had to go down other avenues for medical help and assistance in recent months due to no doctor or nurse being available. I understand that the receptionist has a job to do but I'm sure it can be done without rudeness and belittling a patient who calls seeking advice."