Unprofessional staff and intimidating behaviour from Janete
During a visit on 10 August 2023, I was subjected to direct/indirect discrimination against my disability, various failures to make reasonable adjustments, and generally bad/unprofessional service and communication by the staff at St. Luke's Practice, 2 St Lukes Square, London, E16 1HT.
Aamerah, who may no longer work here, became flippant and hysterical when I calmly approached the receptionist's desk to assist my partner's attempts to get information. Aamerah's response/reaction to me was wholly disproportionate and unprofessional.
Because of Aamerah's reactions, the other staff in the back office, which shares an open space with the receptionist's desk, started looking or staring at us. This made us feel uncomfortable and meant we had no privacy to discuss my partner's health or de-escalate the situation.
When Abbie took over the receptionist desk from Aamerah, one staff member, Janete, walked into the middle of the open space to stop, glare with menace, and size me up (look me down and up). Needless to say, I do not expect this kind of behaviour from anyone working in the NHS, but Janete probably thought/thinks that decent standards of behaviour did/do not apply to her. I immediately raised my observation of Janete's behaviour with Abbie, who told me she did not witness what I observed.
When Janete did another pass to glare at me again, I called her out directly. This prompted Janete to shout, "You're obviously triggered by something, but don't get me involved." Janete was undeniably aggressive, combative, and unprofessional towards me during this interaction.
Having read some of the recent positive reviews on here, which specifically name-drop Janete, I cannot help but suspect this is part of a cynical strategy to boost her image and nullify any particular issues or criticisms people like me have of Janete's behaviour. This is similar to a strategy I've seen used by businesses whose staff may offer free drinks or gifts if you publish a positive review for them.
When the practice manager, Angela Wallace, contacted me by email to respond to my formal complaint, she could not be bothered to get the spelling of my name right even though she had access to my NHS record.
During our meeting with Angela Wallace and another manager on 23 August 2023, we were informed that Aamerah was genuinely remorseful about what had happened and could not understand why she behaved how she did. I believe there's a high probability Aamerah's apology came from a genuine place.
With Janete, I learnt that she had refused to admit wrongdoing and was not considering apologising for her behaviour and remark. This and my personal observation told me everything I needed to know about Janete.
On 28 September 2023, Angela Wallace informed me that Janete would like to apologise. Given what I already knew of Janete, I was reasonably suspicious that the apology would be disingenuous.
On 19 October 2023, Angela Wallace belatedly informed me that Janete was also upset because "she feels as she is a taller lady that she is called thing's [sic] like intimidating etc but after hearing that you also get called aggressive because you are direct when you talk she would like to apologise to you as that was not her intention to make you feel how you did. I think that you both may share a misjudgement of character".
Note that Angela Wallace/Janete's explanation does not actually address the specifics of Janete's remark and behaviour towards me. Instead, it's a pitiable attempt to victimise Janete and dismiss any concerns about:
1) Her staring/glaring at me.
2) Her sizing me up (looking me down and up) with a sinister expression.
3) Her remark, "You're obviously triggered by something, but don't get me involved."
The standards of this country may have slipped over the last decade, but that does not mean you or I have to tolerate low or non-existent standards in behaviour and service from people and organisations.
Based on my experiences with Carpenters Practice - St Luke's staff and management, I cannot recommend this GP surgery to anyone.