"Visit to GP Practice to see nurse"

Recently I asked for a well woman appointment to chat to the nurse, have some routine blood tests taken and discuss some topics regarding my age - I am in my 70s -  general lifestyle and ask some questions about my stage in life.

My previous practice closed and I was transferred to another local practice. It was the previous practice's custom to routinely call patients for the well man/woman checks and as it had been some years since I had this general chat about my health, I decided to take the initiative.

The person I saw was abrupt, unwelcoming and pointed out that it was not routine to ask for an appointment like this. They agreed to take blood tests but said that it was normal practice to have blood tests taken only on the direction of a clinician, by which I assume they meant GP but they did not measure my height - simply asked me if I knew what it was, they weighed me but made it clear they would not answer any questions about my general health.

As we are told ad nauseam that GPs are overworked, I had thought I was doing the right thing by asking to chat to the nurse, but I believe the person with whom I had the appointment was a Health Care Assistant.  Is that a nurse? If not, perhaps this is why they wouldn’t discuss any of my concerns.

Should I have made a GP appointment? We are advised that on a GP visit, a patient should only go with one topic for discussion.  Where does that leave me?  I wanted to chat about my own general health questions and there was certainly more than one.

We are told that if we need advice on medical matters we should speak to a Health Care Professional.  I would be grateful if someone could tell me which HCP I should have made the appointment with on this occasion.  I am fit and, as far as I know, healthy.  I am very active and wish to continue to be and I felt by being proactive regarding my general health I might save the NHS time and money in future.

I find that as I get older I sometimes occasionally lose confidence and I had spent a bit of time preparing questions for my appointment. Some of the queries I had/have cause me some embarrassment to discuss but my experience with this person has caused me to rethink visiting my local surgery.