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Original poster

Are hospital letters supposed to do this?

114 replies

LanguidLobster · 14/10/2018 21:12

I'd already had a letter from them about next appointment so wasn't expecting another one and opened it thinking it was something else but the first paragraph was describing how exceptionally nice I was.

I nearly kung fu kicked over the hospital bed last time I was in. I squinted suspiciously at this.

Is this Orwellian double speak? Just didn't expect that and wondered if that was standard speak which hospitals do

OP posts:
Original poster
LanguidLobster · 15/10/2018 00:49

Weird, I checked with my best friend this evening to see what his said and he said they just refer to him by his name.

I prodded a little and said oh c'mon, they must have said something. I even threatened him with a phone call (he hates them) unless he told me. He said no, honestly he hasn't.

He's quite famous so I'm wondering now if the plebs (me!) have to put up with pleasantries.

We need a guide.

OP posts:
PerspicaciaTick · 15/10/2018 01:01

It's standard, they sometimes get quite specific - "Thank you for referring this anxious 38 year old Maltese Submariner to my Urodynamics Clinic".

I'm sorry, I keep rereading this and for some reason it has really tickled me. At the moment they could refer to me as a pleasant and inexplicably hysterical lady.

Original poster
LanguidLobster · 15/10/2018 01:02

Hmm, at least I now know my code is well spoken and unlikely to punch anyone.

I'm grateful for that, thanks!

OP posts:

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zzzzz · 15/10/2018 01:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ohtheholidays · 15/10/2018 01:33

I've had 2 hospital letters like that just lately I told my DH it was weird.

The first one was from a female consultant,it started of the same as alot have said on here thankyou for referring this lovely young lady to me,there is alot going on with her health and we need to get together blah blah blah and she has been incredibly brave in her dealings with blah blah blah and I feel we need to get these teams together in the hope that we can lessen her pain.

I did think it was very strange(almost like a letter you'd write to someone you were friends with)but then she was really lovely and kept worrying about me when she was prodding and poking me.

Then I got a similar letter from the blah blah blah team I was sent to,both times I thought they'd sent me letters I wasn't supposed to see so thanks for starting this thread OP Smile

citiesofbismuth · 15/10/2018 04:23

I think they should be more objective in their letters as it's not for them to make judgements about how patients appear. I know it's traditional, but it's old fashioned and patronising.

deptfordgirl · 15/10/2018 07:09

Yes! My son goes for regular apps so we have got to know the consultant but he always begins the letters with something like 'I had the pleasure of seeing this thriving young man...etc etc' So funny.

willitbe · 15/10/2018 08:37

SneakyGremlins "This unique young man": unique generally means that you had purple or spikey hair, or wore clothes that were not the average persons boring attire! Occasionally it can be that you fired questions that surprised them!

PiggeryPorcombe “sensible mother” : this means they think you did what they told you too, which is unlike me who generally argues with them! I can come under the "mother claims" category, which means that they don't believe what I have told them. I have never been referred to as sensible!

DaisyDreaming · 15/10/2018 08:45

I always get things like pleasant young lady. My physio used to get lots of referrals where they would be carefully wondered, some suffer neck pain, some suffer pain in their neck...
I didn’t realise it was dying out, I won’t conclude I came across horrible if it doesn’t open with a compliment!

Toddlerteaplease · 15/10/2018 10:06

I read one that was a particularly difficult family, who in the end was banned from the ward because his mother was so awful to us. That went out of its way to say how lovely the patients house was etc etc. It was quite weird! As a PP said it does appear to be disappearing, and tends to be the older consultants who do it.

LarkDescending · 15/10/2018 10:20

My father (85 but still with a twinkle in his eye) had one of these the other day “...delighted to meet this charming gentleman...” from a female consultant. It quite made his week. I didn’t tell him it’s just a standard template Smile

zzzzz · 15/10/2018 11:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PigletJohn · 15/10/2018 11:33

"This patient says" = I see no evidence of

listsandbudgets · 15/10/2018 11:44

Yes

I once had a consultant letter that described me as as "This delightfully intelligent lady in her mid 30s is clearly suffering from *** . Please reassure her that she's not wasting my time"

LarkDescending · 15/10/2018 14:13

Does “lovely house” mean “I can’t think of anything positive to say about this family”?

oksanas · 15/10/2018 14:38

This thread is brilliant.

AviatorShades · 15/10/2018 15:14

"please look after xxxxx, she's such a special lady and my most favourite patient"....written about my elderly friend, an OTT actress lady, at the end of her life, to the hospital drs.Smile
And you know what ? i've still got a xxxxx-shaped hole in my heart too, even these years later. A Very Special Lady IndeedFlowers

SellMySoulForMoreSleep · 15/10/2018 16:30

So, my son when a baby was referred for reflux. In his notes it says 'he has blond hair and blue eyes which is suspicious but on examination he was Essen

I am white Caucasian with brown hair and blue eyes so no obvious reason for it being suspicious. Does anyone in the know have any idea? My DH and I have always wondered what it meant!

SellMySoulForMoreSleep · 15/10/2018 16:30

Sorry should say 'on examination he was essentially normal'

FresasAndFrambuesas · 15/10/2018 16:45

sellmysoul my guess is that the consultant's dictaphone tape ran out and some information got missed out, so something in the information you gave was suspicious (of reflux presumably) but the exam was normal. I can't think of anything that's suspicious about blonde hair and blue eyes!

YearOfYouRemember · 15/10/2018 16:49

SMSFMS your post reminded me that my dds biology teacher told her one of her parents can't be her parent due to the colour of our eyes and hers HmmAngryConfused.

MotherForkinShirtBalls · 15/10/2018 16:53

Sellmy, I know of one generic condition where some of the children with it have almost white blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, and reflux can be a symptom, so perhaps the doctor had something like that in mind?

CatLadyToddlerMother · 15/10/2018 16:54

MiniLady gets reports written by her consultants that say "It was very nice to see this chatty, cheeky child"

I always read it as "This child never shuts up and likes to backchat" which is true Grin

ChanklyBore · 15/10/2018 17:01

@SellMySoulForMoreSleep

Could that be worry about PKU/phenylketonuria? It can cause light colouring.

Sashkin · 15/10/2018 17:09

“The patient tells me that he has has had Condition X for several years” = “You didn’t mention any of this in the referral letter”

“The patient is quite clear that he had his appendix removed in 1986” = “Your referral letter was a load of rubbish”

“I understand from Mr Smith that he is currently seeing the rheumatologists” = “This would also have been good to mention in the referral”