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ENT consultation made me feel very stressed

Posted By Pebbles5

"ENT consultation made me feel very stressed"

About: North Devon District Hospital / Ear, Nose and Throat Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Ear, Nose and Throat

(as the patient),

I had an appointment because of a lump in my neck that could be felt on examination. My GP was advised to refer me to ENT.

The doctor I saw was very unpleasant and annoyed with me. They leaned across the desk and stared at me, raised their voice and repeated "you do not have a lump in your neck" several times. They then examined my neck, sat down and said you have a tortuous carotid artery.

I asked what that was, they said a kink in the artery and I asked if that would show on an MRI or CT scan. They said sometimes but not always. They leaned towards me and again in a very nasty way repeated several times you do not have a lump in your neck.

I was getting upset, feeling intimidated and decided I could not stay in the room. I politely said I think I should leave. The doctor said I will write to your GP and I left the room. I felt very distressed and tearful.

I received a letter from the doctor the next day, saying my neck was normal, and no mention of what they had told me in the consultation. This experience has left me feeling anxious and stressed.

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Responses

Response from Claire Banks, Head of Audiology (Northern Services), Audiology (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 years ago
Claire Banks
Head of Audiology (Northern Services), Audiology (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 25/02/2022 at 16:07
Published on Care Opinion at 16:42

Dear Pebbles 5

Thankyou for taking the time to get in touch and leave feedback about your recent experience with the ENT department. I am so sorry for the distress and anxiety this has caused you.

The ENT services at NDDH are provided by the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and so I have asked Care Opinion to share your story with them. We want to ensure that our teams learn from your experiences and so I will ask the Patient Experience team at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital to ensure that the ENT team receive your feedback.

Again I can only apologise for the stress that this has caused you. If you would like to contact the PALS team at Royal Devon and Exeter directly, the email address is

rde-tr.PALS@nhs.net and they will be able to provide you with a response.

Best wishes

Claire

Head of Audiology

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Response from Brenda Leaman, Patient Experience Lead, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 2 years ago
Brenda Leaman
Patient Experience Lead,
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 25/02/2022 at 17:18
Published on Care Opinion at 17:18

Dear Pebbles5

I am very sorry to hear about your experience at your ENT appointment. If you would like us to look into the concerns that you have please contact our Patient Advice & Liaison Service by email at rde-tr.pals@nhs.net or telephone 01392 402093 so that the team can get more details to enable us to look further into this for you.

Brenda Leaman

Patient Experience Lead

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