"GUM clinics Cardiff & Gwent"

When you need to attend a gum clinic, it's usually fairly embarrasing and scary, so it should be made as easy and simple as possible. I tried to get an appointment at my local Cardiff GUM clinic, but their policy means you are unable to book an appointment in advance, and can only book one on the morning of the day you want one, and even then, it is unlikely you will get one. Therefore it is impossible to book a day off work in advance. The drop-in clinic is only during times when most people are at work, with waits usually exceeding 2 hours, with no clinics evenings or weekends. I thought I would try my luck driving to Royal Gwent GUM clinic in Newport instead. It said the drop-in clinic was open 3-7pm, no appointment necessary. I turned up at 5, only to find there is nowhere for patients to park anywhere near the clinic, and drove around Newport ring road for 1/2 hour trying to park. I eventually found the clinic at 6, and was told that they were not seeing any more patients that evening, even thought they were open until 7. I politely explained that I had symptoms I needed to have looked at, and had driven from Cardiff, and taken time off work. I was taken to one side by a nurse who seemed stressed and wasn't very pleasant to me, who started asking personal questions about my symptoms standing outside the waiting room, no sympathy or respect for the sensitive nature of the problem, and told me to try coming back at the same time in 2 days, although they couldn't guarantee I would be seen then either. I thought this was unbelievably poor service, they seemed understaffed with terrible hospital facilities. When someone has STI symptoms, they should be seen right away or given a next day appointment. I walked back to my car and felt completely traumatised to the point of crying.