Tim Evans

So after a dull ache that has been bugging me for a while, my disintegrating wisdom tooth has finally decided to pull out the big guns on Thursday evening and notch it up to agony.

Thanks to some very privileged individuals getting married I’m unable to get it seen to at a dentist until Tuesday when life returns to normality, and so made my way this morning to Kings College Hospital Dental Institute to have it removed at their emergency walk in service.

Problem was I couldn’t walk in because it was closed. I went to the main hospital reception to be told to call a number after I said I needed to be seen today.

I call the number and wait on hold. I then give someone my details after I tell them I need to be seen today as I’m in severe pain. They inform me that the dental person will call me back, and ask for my home phone number, which seemed odd as I had just explained that I was at the hospital waiting to be seen. I provide him with my mobile number, and I’m told to wait for an appointment to be provided.

I wait over an hour and then receive a call telling me that their EMERGENCY walk in service is not provided for EMERGENCIES on weekends, so turn up early next Tuesday. Tuesday, not Monday because of the Holiday.

It seems that severe and overwhelming pain is not important to them on weekends or public holidays if it falls under Dental. Why not? If I turned up with a piece of glass in my hand in agony, they would remove it and give me pain relief. The fact that the pain is shooting through the side of my skull and it’s a tooth that needs removing seems to have its own special rules. The system doesn’t work. The system suggests individuals suffer in genuine agony for nearly five days whilst Pimms and barbecues are enjoyed.

Happy Holiday! ( he says through gritted teeth).