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"Coil disaster "

I got a copper coil put in July 2019. No follow up to check. After a little while I was having dyspareunia. Long story short I was eventually referred to a gynaecologist who sent me to have an ultra sound of my womb in April 2020. Straight away the radiologist said the coil was in the wrong place. It was sitting far too low in my womb and was ineffective as contraception and likely to be cause of my dyspareuria. He suggested I get it removed/replaced asap despite corona virus effecting clinics. I had a telephone conversation with surrey sexual health services for about half an hour where she asked me all the pre appointment questions. She booked me in to buryfields for the next day and asked me to do pregnancy test in the morning as a safety measure. She explained they could only remove it due to corona (not replace it) but I would be put on a priory list when clinic returns to normal. When I arrived receptionist was very rude, I think she was on edge about corona despite the fact I was wearing mask and gloves. The telephone pre appt was to limit the amount of time I was at the clinic due to corona. I was supposed to confirm name and dob and they’d remove coil. In and out in 15 mins they said. I was still waiting 25 mins after I arrived despite being only person in waiting room. Receptionist couldn’t understand it so another doctor took my appointment. She proceeded to ask me the hundreds of questions I had already answered on phone delaying things further. I explained what happened at the ultra sound. When she examined me she said the strings hadn’t moved and I shouldn’t have it taken out. We ended up having a slight debate as I said I think the ultra sound is more accurate and I would like it out. She didn’t agree. Luckily I stood my ground and she removed it. I mentioned about the priority list to have a new one inserted once clinic had gone back to normal after corona. She looked at me as if I was stupid and said - there is no list. I asked her why the coil could have moved she patronised me again saying it hadn’t moved. Fast forward to follow up phone appointment with my gynaecologist. The first thing she said was - we need to get the coil out asap. I told her I already got it done at buryfields and she was extremely relieved. I mentioned about the strings being in place and she said it’s got nothing to do with the strings, it’s not floated off anywhere so strings are in place. The scan showed it was positioned wrong in my womb lying flat and far too low which would have definitely been causing me pain. I was so upset at how unprofessional the doctor was at buryfields. She nearly didn’t take it out despite what I told her about the scan. I honestly think you should remind doctors there that strings being in place does not mean it’s actually lying correctly in a womb. I ended up being there 45 mins putting myself and others at risk and being treated like a nuisance despite the scan showing it was an emergency.

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Responses

Response from Surrey Sexual Health Service-Guildford 5 years ago
Surrey Sexual Health Service-Guildford
Submitted on 18/05/2020 at 12:52
Published on nhs.uk on 20/05/2020 at 10:08


I’m really very sorry you had this experience in our clinic. This is not what we have come to expect from our services and I want to look into this as a matter of urgency.

While it is true that we are in a pandemic and that therefore our services are reduced we are still asking people to come in if it’s urgent.

Please could you email communications.cnwl@nhs.net with your contact details, who will pass on your details to me. I would like to speak with you today if you are free to talk so that I can start looking into this.

Denise Rayner

Service Manager

Surrey Integrated Sexual Health & HIV Services

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

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