"Patronising, Condescending and Arrogant Staff"

The stenographer said the ultrasound report would be available within 10 mins and I could get the computer printout of that report from the Imaging Dept's Reception in the next few minutes.

Having gone through this process 3 times when I had X-rays, and got the report minutes later from the Reception Desk, I assumed it would again be easy.

After all, it was my body and my report.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The first staff member at the Desk refused to provide it.

They said that no patient is allowed their report prior to them seeing the doctor who referred them.

They were wrong.

They called another staff member over and I was told the same again.

They were both wrong.

The second staff member went to get another who they said was their senior.

This staff member also refused me request and demanded to know why I want a copy?

It was actually none of their business.

They said that patients are not allowed to have any medical reports prior to having an appt with the doctor who referred them for the image.

The receptionists interjected and said they can give me the CD copy of the scan but not the report, because patients can only know the contents of the report after seeing their referring doctor.

So these staff were happy to provide my image, but they were refusing to provide the report about that image.

So, not all data is equal.

They felt that their patronising and condescending opinions outweighed the patient's prerogative to request and to receive a copy of a report about their own body.

Whilst there, I offered to fill and sign any form and show ID. I had just been had an intimate examination and scan, and I was clearly still the same person as I was in the scan of a few minutes ago.

I also said that they could hand me, or send me by post, the paper report.

The stenographer said that I'd have to return 45 mins later when their senior would be present.

So I returned and met their senior who boasted that in 15 yrs they had never once allowed any patient to have a copy of their own report prior to seeing their referring doctor.

And they also wanted to know why I'd want a copy of the report?

Incredible.

It's the 21st century but these people are still in the dark ages.

At least six staff, clerical and clinical, had seen my report and confirmed it was on the database, but they continued to refuse to provide it.

Some years ago, this same hospital gave me the runaround and kept me waiting almost 1 year for copies of my own data. I eventually met the Caldecott Guardian who was very apologetic about the failures...

And yet, here we go again.

About a year ago, on 3 separate occasions, I received the paper report of my X-rays just minutes after being x-rayed.

So they clearly are able to press PRINT.

Now, I had lost THREE hours of my time because my request for the paper printout (1 page) of the report of a few minutes ago, and was being refused whilst being asked why I wanted it?

An appalling abuse of power & position by clerical and clinical staff.