"Telephone results consultation"

We had a direct & clear explanation of results. The difficulty experienced was due to the patient being hard of hearing, even with use of hearing aids. A family member was available to take notes & give a synopsis of results from the Dr, when the patient lost the thread of information given. I strongly feel a face to face results consultation is essential in certain circumstances, as the Dr can gage reaction & see if the patient is  understanding, especially when the patient is faced with a choice of possible ongoing treatment to shorten the percentage of a recurrence of the problem. I understand it is preferable to speak on the phone due to the current endemic situation, but a telephone call can lead to confusion & misinterpretation. The Dr advised that the patient needed  to attend for a checkup & they would arrange that. Next day, a standard generic letter arrived, requesting the patient to contact the appointment line, as their name was on a waiting list for a procedure. 

We assumed this was in relation to the follow up operation, but as there was no mention of a doctors name or that it was a follow up appointment, it was very confusing. Having said that, we made the appointment & hope that it is a follow up to the procedure already done. 

We may possibly receive another letter, with the Dr's name advising of the  follow up examination, I really don't know, very confusing & misleading. 

A telephone consultation is probably an excellent way to communicate in certain circumstances & while it did work for us because of the presence of the family member to take notes, it most certainly would've been a disaster otherwise. When the word cancer is mentioned, it takes a moment to process, even though the Dr reassured that they got it all, that part was temporarily  lost on the patient. The family member continued to take notes and asked the Dr to pause, so as to bring the patient up to date; at this stage the patient had lost all concentration & had stopped listening. This is not a criticism of the Dr in any shape or form. They were patient and sympathetic. However, a face to face consultation in this case would've made it obvious that the patient was not engaged & needed a moment. 

I appreciate that we are in a dreadful situation with the health service & they are struggling to provide the best service they can. We are very appreciative of the great care received from all the health professionals & have been grateful for all the care & attention. I do feel that telephone results are certainly beneficial for a lot of reasons, e.g. travel time to the hospital, patient mobility, risk of covid, but for a diagnosis which is not cut & dried, and having to weigh up options for future treatment, I firmly believe the inconvenience of travelling to the hospital was far outweighed by the importance of receiving this type of news in person. 

We would like to reiterate that the care & attention received throughout has been exemplary & thank you to the health professionals.