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"Language used by doctor"

About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Gynaecology

(as the patient),

I was booked in for a colposcopy as an outpatient in hospital (RD&E). This was following a cervical screening which showed borderline abnormal cell changes. 

What was good: A female nurse was present with me for the appointment, my consent was requested before the procedure, I was asked if I had any questions, the procedure was explained to me beforehand. 

What could have been better: The language used by the doctor was outdated/not medical and made me feel uncomfortable - smear instead of cervical screening test; I need to have a look at you instead of I need to examine your cervix.

The language look at you to talk about looking at areas of the body associated with being sexual made me uncomfortable and I think it was worse because the doctor was male and I am a younger woman. 

It also made me feel that the doctor was not up-to-date with current practices and research (e.g. cervical screenings changed methodology from smear tests in 2003). This added to my nervousness. 

This hospital has more male doctors than female working in the women’s health/gynaecology department, which is not ideal, especially if they are not going to use language such as have a look at you for such personal examinations. 
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Responses

Response from Maria Cleverdon, Clinical Nurse Manager (Eastern Services), Gynae Clinic 2 - Gynae Assessment Unit (Eastern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust last month
Maria Cleverdon
Clinical Nurse Manager (Eastern Services), Gynae Clinic 2 - Gynae Assessment Unit (Eastern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Submitted on 03/06/2025 at 09:49
Published on Care Opinion at 09:49


picture of Maria Cleverdon

Thank you for your feedback

I appreciate your comments and will take them forwards.

we strive to improve our service and practice and feedback is an important aspect for this.

we have regular colposcopy meetings and will discuss as a group how language and terminology affects our patients both positively and negatively

if you would like to discuss this further then please do contact me at the clinic

with kind regards

Maria Cleverdon

Lead Nurse Colposcopist

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