From my end, the most competent professionals I've dealt with have been my current GP and a physiotherapist I saw for all of six weeks (who as you say, listened to the advice of my GP and knew his limits enough to work out there was little he could do for me except give me mild stretches to help me retain what mobility I have). The most incompetent ones have been at the sodding hospital. Doesn't matter which department - A&E, paediatrics, gynae, neurology, cardiac - they don't listen, they don't tell you what they're doing, they treat you like a piece of meat, they walk in and out of the cubicle (assuming you've got so far as a cubicle) without a hello or a goodbye, they write things down wrong, they say they're referring you to X and then don't... the best-staffed bit of that hospital is the cafeteria.