I am trying to get some information on experiences at RAF Lakenheath Family Practice, Dental, Pediatric and OB Clinics. I have had some poor experiences and am trying to gather some accurate information from other mom's in the area. I would like to change the way they treat patients and could use all the help I can get.
Thanks everyone for the comments, every single one helps. If you can refer anyone to this post, that helps every response is needed. I really want to change how dependants are viewed, we play a vital role and should be treated with the same courtesy. Please keep the posts coming!
Hi L.,
I'm not sure exactly what your experiences have been; however, I've been on both sides. My experiences have been varied and it just kind of depends on the day and who you are dealing with. Currently I'm a stay at home Mom and have a two and a half year old and a 6 week old. I'd love to chat more with you offline or even get together somewhere as I'm sure this is a subject that's not going to be resolved overnight.
Hi, we arrived here Nov. 30, 2007. I had a little trouble getting my prescriptions filled, but, after that not too bad at family practice. The dental clinic was a little hard to get seen initially, but, once they actually saw me I was able to get good care. It seems that there really is not enough Dr. for any clinic. Patient care for dependents does not seem to be a priority on any base we have been stationed at. My husband and I have been married 21 years and he has been in the AF for 16 years. I have to be my own best advocate and just keep making appointments until I get the proper care. I do not like having to do that but if I don't, who will?
Hello,
At the dental clinic, the only thing that I feel is pretty bad is the scheduling. I called time and time again to get appts for my children. I think after the fourth call, I finally got in, but the appt was almost exactly 6 weeks away. I think that is a little excessive. With the peds clinic, I think it depends on your doc. I love my children's doc. Really thorough and actually seems human. I haven't dealt with the family practice or any other clinic since, I've been here which was is a little over a year. Oh wait, I did have one really upsetting experience at the peds clinic. My son has asthma and was in the er one day over the weekend. I had to do the followup with the doc the next day. The doc was suppose to call and never did, so I called. Scheduled the appt (by the way this was when they were in their little trailer by the stop sign) I was there 5 minutes after my check in time, no one else was in the waiting room and they put me as a no show. Even the tech was shocked that I was considered a no show for being 5 minutes late. I was of course upset and asked to possibly be seen as a walk-in. The tech went to talk to the doc and the response I got was. "It could take up to hour or four. If you feel your son's breathing is getting worse you can bring him to the er." I basiclly felt that my child's health wasn't important. For a child to be pushed aside like that is ridiculous. So I guess I did have a bad incident. Since then, I have our new doc and he is great. Hope this helps.
I lived there for eight years and recently moved to Germany. You can send me a message if you think I can help :)
I just had an appointment with the family practice and the dr that I saw had never seen my record before. So he read through it with me and kept asking me if it all sounded right. He was a alright dr though, he was willing to talk to me and did not make me feel rushed through the appointment. I have been told though that this is not like a civilian practice where you have the same dr all the time. The gist of it was that it is my health and that I am the one that has to keep on top of it for when I need check-up and any other aspect. The same is for when my children need their check ups and updates on shots. Sorry if that does not help much.
