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Alastair Campbell has a blog post on being treated at the walk in centre at Finchley Memorial Hospital.
A couple of minutes to give my details, a five minute wait, five
minutes with a nurse, another few minutes waiting for the affected area
to be cleaned and dressed, job done, nurse back in to advise me about
how to help it heal, shoes on and away I limped....The walk-in centres may not be as great an achievement as the NHS
itself, back in the days of the post-war Labour government. But they
are a reminder that in small ways and large, day in day out, this
govenment has improved the NHS after the Thatcher-Major years, and made
a difference for the better.
I had a rather different experience last February, which I recounted on my Speccie blog:
There's a 'walk in' clinic in Finchley. And it's a perfect example of modern Britain.
Needing to have my knife wound re-dressed, I thought I'd save myself
some time by wandering off to the clinic rather than my (private) GP,
who is a bit of a trek away.I walked in and explained what I needed. "Do you have an appointment?". "No," I said, pointing out that the name 'Finchley Memorial Hospital Walk In Clinic' implied that one could 'walk in'.
"Can't see you without an appointment". I asked why it was called a 'walk in clinic' when one could not walk in. "You need an appointment". Etc.
To cut a long story short, I eventually persuaded them to see me - strictly as a one off.
You have to be awed by the NHS, really. What on earth is it for?