Any doctors here? Secret code? Flattery?

[AyDeeAitchDee]

Hi all.

So I've had various medical appointments lately.

And get copied in to the letters from various doctors back to my GP.

And they all LOVE me the letters all start like:

"I saw this delightful woman today"

"I had the pleasure of meeting with this lovely lady today"

Etc etc.

Now I'm polite and all. But don't warrant this sort of flattery.

So I'm guessing it's some sort of code?

Would love to be filled in please. Or just hear theories.

I'm not sure really I think this is standard. I've had my previous job noted on a letter before and it wasn't a profession they had to be careful of either (nurse, lawyer etc) so I dont think that's relevant, maybe if they thought it was stress related. Unless they mentioned i was a shop worker so the next doctor knew to treat me well, otherwise I would invite them to my clothes shop and strangle them with a lovely leather jacket.

It is standard. I write it in my referrals to hospitals, GPs etc (I'm an optometrist)

@annamagnani FLK means they havent got a syndrome....just a funny looking kid! I've never actually seen it on a record, just heard it through lecturers telling stories about other people using it

So what do they write when the patient is a complete pain on the bum, and has been scouring dr google (and knows better than the doctor)?

“Confident”

Having typed for a few consultants, the ones who also work privately tend to use more of the flattery! I usually type “this delightful young” girl or boy, DD had an ortho appointment with an NHS consultant who works privately and I think she was a “charming teenager” or something like that (made me to ink he’d got the wrong patient )

BIFFO - big ignorant fucker from Offaly (seen in hospital notes in ROI, mid-90’s).

Offaly is a county in Ireland btw

I've noticed most the younger/newer consultants don't really do this, so I expect it will die out sooner or later

I once got “those obese lady” and that set the tone for the “her nose is continually blocked due to polyps - must be her weight” train of thinking

"this experienced mother of four" I would think this meant she knows what she is talking about.

Experienced mother is one I use, to mean "she knows her stuff" shall I drop it ? I also say "skilled parent" that's one I adopted recently- could that be misconstrued ?

I'm currently under two different surgical specialties and my letters always start with some form of flattery followed by the fact I'm a SODP. I guess that's code for "she works in theatres and won't be fobbed off/knows her stuff.

yep its standard nowadays, they are not able to write the things they used to!! believe me the amount of stuff ive read in notes over the years has been less than complimentary :)

Our letters are addressed to the patient (copied to GP), so I generally write “it was lovely to see you in clinic today, you were accompanied by your wife...”

It IS generally lovely to see my patients - most of them are a nice bunch, and we look after them for years so I get to know them. I say who else was there, so I know later down the line that Mr Smith’s wife has been fully involved in the discussions already whereas Mrs Jones’s son will need bringing up to speed.

Jobs give information about educational level, about risk factors for various diseases (massive issue for lung diseases in particular), and also your general health - if you are still holding down a job as a builder or personal trainer, you are probably a bit less sick than somebody who used to work in admin but retired early on ill health grounds. So I don’t put it in every letter, but I do ask about it the first time I meet people. I often ask people about their hobbies and activity levels too, for the same reason.