My doctor has described me as ‘a very pleasant lady’

[HouseyMcHouseFace]

And it made me cry.

I have to go to hospital tomorrow for an infusion and needed a letter from my doctor as it’s an urgent referral thing. She wrote the referral with my age, weight and the fact that I’m very pleasant.

I am feeling poorly and a bit down at the moment but it really made my day.

DH and I have both had "pleasant" and I'm pretty sure it's standard code for "not much trouble".

Perhaps pleasant means pleasant and absence of the word pleasant is code for nightmare?!

I've had quite a few consultant letters and yes, they have always had a complimentary sentence at the beginning, but I am rather nice and always pleasant and friendly as that is my style I asked a friend of mine who is always at the doctors complaining and demanding to see consultants, who she then proceeds to moan at, and is rather, how can I put this, 'pushy' what her letters say and she says she has never had a letter with any flowery words at the beginning

Christ knows what they would call my Dad in a doctor's letter considering he makes Victor Meldrew look like Mr Happy on ecstasy!

Much better than when I walked into the EPU for an early scan in my last pregnancy (several complicated ones previously) to be greeted by oh you are Dr Xxxs patient we'd better see you right away

In my 20s I was called “plump young lady”

I would take it to be anything but bolshy. Very pleasant means, your pleasant, not horrible or someone the doctor needs to brace himself to see

It's definitely a code!

Many years back in my youth, I had to weed through old medical records to check the most recent date in them for keeping/ long term storage/ destruction. The records weren't necessarily filed in any particular order so it could take a bit of rummaging through a file to establish its most recent use.

There was one where a patient had a chronic health condition, easily ecacerbated by poor lifestyle. The tone of the letters wasn't great to begin with, but steadily deteriorated over time as the GP's/ consultant's frustrations became more evident from their increasingly lengthy and negative descriptions. Words used were along the lines of argumentative, unpleasant, smelly, grossly obese all used in a great string.

I get the feeling that he was not a patient to look forwards to seeing!
I doubt they could get away with writing it now as it was several decades ago!

I can see how it would be useful to have a heads up on how to start pitching your level at an appointment and if someone is pleasant, needs reassurance/ TLC or is likely to battle you on principle and do nothing to help themselves.

This is the most bizarre thread I have come across - I am not in the UK. Where I am our referrals are literally just a stamped signed piece of paper with the reason for the referral on it.
I cannot fathom how there can be judgmental language/personality traits on a referral letter in the UK without professionals being called on it - given that many female patients are maligned/not taken seriously/deemed hysterical or psychosomatic....to have euphemisms on a written document that could then back up a misdiagnosis/missed diagnosis sounds insane.
I'm not naive - I know hospital notes/GP notes like TATT (tired all the time) could indicate similar judgements but referral letters should not need justifying, they should simply be referrals without any coded language at all.
And yes, the bolshiest, angriest or great unwashed should have exactly the same access to treatment, kindness and dignity shown to any other patient, regardless of rank, status, wealth, mental state.

Oh no HouseyMcHouseFace that's horrible I hope you get a new appointment soon.

Anxious is 3/10 according to MorningsEleven though? Fecking cheek of him! He did say he would rather his child was hospitalised than had a vaccine so I assumed he was a lunatic but I was still very polite!

I've never read it as being bolshy. Also seen it as a standard think on GP referrals and wouldn't colour or influence my view at all. I see it as more a platitude than an opinion on someone's personality.

OP that sounds really bad, I hope you get sorted soon

As other pps have mentioned it's fairly standard. I've had numerous doctors/hospital letters in the past, many of them saying I'm pleasant. And I am!

*Miljah

cavycavy Actually I do think it affects aspects of healthcare encounters*

Yes this is probably true. But it is very frowned upon.

If i get a patient who is described as ‘challenging’ or ‘determined’ I will gerd my loins prior to calling their name in the waiting room but I will always give them the benefit of the doubt. Pain and illness can make the most pleasant of people irritable and impatient.

Some patients, however, are just downright unpleasant. Racist, sexist, ageist.... some with a criminal history (bad crimes). It’s very very hard to treat everybody equally.

I must add, that everyone gets the same access to treatment regardless. But the attitude of the clinician treating you may vary if your opening gambit is “I didn’t think women could be surgeons” or something similar.

@HouseyMcHouseFace Did they say why they cancelled? I have fairly regular iron infusions, many arranged at short notice. I had my last one on Monday. Most hospitals have a haematology unit that can usually fit you in very quickly.

I was described once as a "young, peasant fellow"...

nuzzle’it means an old first time mum.

I remember when I had my pfb I brought him to the doctor for a chest infection as a baby. The doctor said "he really is a lovely young man" i absolutely BEAMED with pride. After all the doctor is a pass who sees 20 babies a day so has a good pool to compare with so it must be true

I remember when I had my pfb I brought him to the doctor for a chest infection as a baby. The doctor said "he really is a lovely young man" i absolutely BEAMED with pride

A medical report about my ds said that he was 'a lovely boy'. It made my day.

Am I the only one who thinks that judgements on patients' characters, be they positive or negative, don't belong in medical letters? confused It feels rather patronising and presumptuous, tbh.

I agree, really hate it. It's like we're being patted on the head and told we're good little girls.
There's no need for compliments, just give the relevant information FGS.

I met a good looking consultant once.
He was very shy considering but not that shy, to put 'what a lovely lady' I was in the follow up letter!

I wish patients could write up the GPs! ''The deadpan monosyllabic GP revealed no expression whatsoever as I plucked up the courage to describe my embarrassing symptom."

The maternity ward wrote to my Gp describing me as “ particularly difficult and uncooperative” when I’d self discharged after dc4 and I weren’t looked after to the standards I’d expect (kept in for twice daily obs on dc, no one did them at all for 2 days. Luckily I’m a nurse and did them myself and paged the doctor to review daily. I rang the Hv pre discharge to check they could do them at home and figured we’d get better/some care at home. I also had to wait 32 hours for paracetamol as they were “too busy “)
My Gp wrote back saying I was more knowledgeable than them, a brilliant mum and that they (Gp) were lodging a complaint!
“Pleasant lady” sounds great op!