to be so upset? GP surgery told me I would be removed from their list if I don't have a smear test

[veryworried29]

Namechanging uber-regular here.

I received a text from my GP surgery which said "Please confirm address by phone. If not you will be removed from surgery list."

I rang immediately and was told that if I don't come in for a smear test then I will be struck off the surgery list!

Dh and I have been with this surgery for 18 years and our children since they were born.

I don't feel I need a smear test. We very rarely have sex and when we do it is always with a condom. I have had years of clear smears before me.

I find them horrifically unpleasant, in the same way that some people are phobic about the dentist, infact think I may have a form of vaginismus (sp?) hence the lace of piv sex.

Tbh, it almost feels like I must agree to be raped (sorry for emotive language, but this is how it feels to me) in order to keep a place at my GP surgery.

I cannot begin to describe how upset I am about this. There have been tears.

I'd be grateful if you could bear this in mind when replying ... I know this is aibu, but I do feel I have a genuine aibu to run past you all with this one.

Saying as a GP that you are foolish but its your decision is on the wrong side of the boundary of what I think is acceptable.

You simply shouldn't use emotive words, that undermine the intelligence of person in someway.

You may say that you simply disagree. But don't call them names in the process. Thats where it strays into becoming pressured...

I too think that the GP Imagine should not say that.
You wouldnt like to be called foolish would you?

Like everywhere, there is good and bad all over.

I did GP reception for nearly 4 years. One woman refused to give away emergency, same day appointments unless the patient had taken 2 paracetamol. If they still felt unwell, then they could have an appointment - except by the time they had the paracetamol and called back the appointments would invariably have gone. She was as thick as pig shit and a fucking liability.

Sadly there are people in the NHS who are idiots but have an over inflated sense of their own importance.

Red TB excellent post.

OP you hang on in there and make the choices that are right for you. I hope if you go to talk about your vaginismus and resultant concerns with your GP you font get called foolish

i am interested to see the doctors reply.

Well actually I think it is foolish to miss out on a potentially life-saving test, but OP isn't my patient, this is an Internet chat forum, and therefore I can put things how I want to. Obviously I wouldn't use that word to my patients, although I would tell them that I thought it was better for them to have a smear than not to. But as I said, (before you all jumped on me for my heinous use of the word foolish) there is no way that refusing to have a smear is grounds for removal from the list.

Just to be clear, my last post is in relation to the attitude of the GP receptionist you spoke to Very - I missed latter posts

'You may say that you simply disagree. But don't call them names in the process. Thats where it strays into becoming pressured...'

I agree.

I threw up questions before consenting to my daughter's second round of chemo, because no one had bothered themselves to tell me of her specific genetic mutations. Instead a registrar told me, 'You know you can be taken to court for refusing.' I stated, clearly, that I was not refusing, I was questioning, and informed him also that I, having worked in the legal profession here, advised him strongly of stating such things, as there were two witnesses present who could be subpoenaed and even oral testimony is given under oath. I asked to speak with her consultant, and, after doing so, advised her that one of her students issues veiled and ill-informed threats. She took that very seriously.

Straying into such name-calling is equally as foolish.

I made the choices I did of my own volition. If I were faced with certain forms of cancer, I could legally decline treatment.

This is no different.

Autonomy over one's own body should be paramount where one is of sound mind, or IMO, has made a Living Will when of sound mind (another thread entirely, I understand).

What I learned from our time there. ALWAYS be business-like, articulate and to the point. Practice it if it does not come naturally to you. It will.

Exactly, Red. The second you stray into evocative and emotive language your credibility is gone.

Imagine here's a genuine Q: do you accept that there are some women for whom the certain psychological repercussions of having intimate exams outweigh the small risk they will get cancer?

Also obviously you can say what you like, but I think it is a shame you used that term. I work in HE and I'd never call a student a fool to their face or on a chat forum, as if I identify myself as a member of my profession online I'd talk as though I were seeing a real student. I just don't think it will help.

Imagine, if you hadn't used your status as a GP I wouldn't have picked you up on the use of the word. The fact you did means you are deliberately using your professional status to undermine someone by calling them a name. It is dubious to do so, regardless of whether you are their doctor or not or whether this is an anonymous internet forum. It does not absolve you from your profession and acting in such a way could undermine the relationship of anyone reading this with their doctor as they may fear they will also be treated in such a manner in person.

If you wish to express an opinion thats fine, if you wish to name call then whilst I don't like it, as long as you don't bring your professional status into it, then thats also ok to a point. Its the second you say "I am a GP this is my opinion" and name call its a problem.

Tweak and tweak again, OP. Run it by here before you send. Remember, no evocative or emotive language. Business-like and to the point. I wound up dictating the paragraph preceding signed consent which the cons wrote in the notes. Water-tight. 'I, the undersigned, being of sound mind and body and after oral discussion with (name) and before second-signed witness, give full and informed consent to X course of treatment regarding Y, my minor child, in the presence of (name) and second signed witness. I understand and accept fully the ramifications of X course treatment and all its possibilities including permanent disability and death.' We all signed and dated and got on with it.

Patients who find smears unpleasant enough that they prefer not to have them can have them under sedation or General anaesthetic if they want to.

Oh forget it, I was trying to be helpful but all you lot want to do is have a moan about my use of the word foolish. Its semantics. If you had seen the things I've seen in my career you may see things differently. Anyway, I'm off to bed now and I'll hide this thread, so you can all moan as much as you like! My point was that it was not appropriate for the surgery to remove OP for the list for this reason.

ImagineJL Wed 12-Feb-14 23:14:23
Patients who find smears unpleasant enough that they prefer not to have them can have them under sedation or General anaesthetic if they want to.

Did you actually read Revolting post with regard to sedation? Or are you just ignorant to the point of being so arrogant that you don't consider how a patient might feel or why they might feel like that.

You have just displayed a lack of empathy that I find not only sickening but also very disturbing.

Surely you will, Imagine. I applaud your courage I have seen my child die in my arms, fuck my career, which has mostly involved career criminals. Bully for me, eh?

Ahh but it's not that simple is it. You have to persuade the GP that there is an issue (normally after trial and error of smears, which can be traumatic) and fight for a referral to gynae. Gynae might refuse to help you with sedation as a first treatment, might ask you to accept cheaper help e.g. counselling (during which I was asked incredibly intrusive questions about how exactly I choose to masturbate!). Eventually you might get sedation but on,ply after a fight.

And let's not pretend sedation or a ga is easy either. For a woman who's been assaulted or abused the thought of lying with your legs in stirrups for an extended period of time (I was 25 mins for my coil) powerless to move, with potentially several strangers in and out, can be absolutely terrifying, and again, very traumatic.

Of course, depending on where you are in the country, and who you see, you might be treated wonderfully. I'm lucky enough to have a GP who 100% understands and allows me to work together with her in coming to decisions that are mutually suitable. Luckily, she doesn't think I'm foolish for struggling to cope with a (for me) very painful and invasive examination.

Good, go Imagine.

You are only stepping away because you know what you have said is unacceptable and you are behaving like a 5 year old child saying I'm going to hide the thread.

Its akin to sticking your fingers in your ears and going 'lalala I'm above you all and I'm too frikkin arrogant and experienced to deal with you lower life imbeciles'.

Unbelievable.

Exactly, Red. 'The things I have seen . . .' Oh, well, let's ALL go there!

I'm dismayed that a GP would come on here and patronise someone by calling them "foolish" for not having a smear test.

Imagine - I do see that you state the practice is being unreasonable but calling the OP foolish is awful. Really awful.

It reminds me of the Bad Old Days when medical professionals considered themselves Gods who must be obeyed.

I have had a similar letter - I had a note about a smear test when I was pregnant, then miscarried, then pregnant again - so I had not done anything about it.

And then, no excuse,but 3 kids, just never got round to scheduling the test. I mentioned to the scary busy receptionist last month as I was there with one of the kids, and she just got me to fill in a note confirming I was still at the same address, and had got the letter. This way, the GP Practice is covering themselves, I am at the address they wrote to, and I cannot say I was not warned.

It will be a bureaucratic thing - and the medical receptionist you spoke to will have the wrong end of the stick. Write a letter to the Practice Manager, confirming your address, confirming you have received letter, but you are exercising your right not to take up what was offered, and you were very concerned to hear that you would be struck off for not consenting to a medical procedure.

Not that I am advocating not going - I am silly for not getting round to it, it's slightly uncomfortable but after 3 kids, it's just a minor discomfort and worth getting anything caught in the early stages. Good luck!

If a smear test is so important and over 75% of eligible women are screened, can someone please explain why over 3,000 women a year are being diagnosed with cervical cancer?

Because the smear test is picking up the cervical cancer Winter!

I'm not sure what you don't understand?

What does that question mean Winter?

It's because Winter many early stage cancers are detected by screening. These have the same treatment as the highest pre-cancerous changes. There was a big increase in detection in 98-99 (due to an increase in uptake in specific age groups, that usually have lower uptake).