fall back on

[clapec]

" (...) The problem was that if you go to the hospital for your visits, you can’t guarantee seeing the same doctor every time. They were thus persuaded to go private, but as they weren’t happy with the doctor, they finally decided to fall back on a health service gynaecologist who worked in the small public clinic in their village."

Does fall back on make sense in this context?
And is "they weren’t happy with the doctor" correct? There must be a better way to say that, although I cannot find any
Thank you very much!

 

[winklepicker]

Does fall back on make sense in this context?
And is "they weren’t happy with the doctor" correct? There must be a better way to say that...

Fall back on is a phrasal verb meaning to revert to or to default to. See this link for phrasal verbs.

Weren't happy with is very common in BE as a subtle way of saying they were not satisfied with someone or something: it says the same thing but less directly and therefore with less chance of giving offence.

You might be able to say it 'better' (what does better mean?!) but the whole thing is very idomatic - in BE at any rate.

 

[clapec]

Thank you for your reply

You might be able to say it 'better' (what does better mean?!)

I just thought that "to be happy with" might be too colloquial...

 

[winklepicker]

I just thought that "to be happy with" might be too colloquial...

Too colloquial for what?

 

[jabogitlu]

It's not colloquial at all, for me. Another way of saying it would be "they weren't pleased with the doctor."