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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Was the doctor inappropriate?

77 replies

Mookie81 · 09/02/2019 06:53

I was at the hospital for an ECG due to high blood pressure. I saw the doctor afterwards and he was perfectly pleasant.
I had to lay on the bed while he checked my pulse in different areas- my wrists, my ankles and my groin area. I had to push my waistband down while he felt my pulse in the crevice between the top of my thigh and my vagina.
Can people tell me if this is normal? Confused

OP posts:
FruitCider · 09/02/2019 08:56

Well yes you had a cardiovascular exam. I'd expect them to ascultate your lungs and apex beat followed by listening for blood flow and valve sounds in the heart, percuss your chest cavity, check both legs are equal size and press on your legs to check for oedema all the way up the groin, check pulse in all sites for symmetry and power, and perhaps even perform an abdo exam before carrying out an ECG. Certainly this is what I'd do in practice and I'm a nurse, I'm not even a doctor!

tazzle22 · 09/02/2019 09:01

I don't think the OP had said the doctor did not explain the procedure and she said that she lowered her own pants therefore indicating she consented . He might have said at the beginning that he needed to feel pulses at several places in her body and why...although may not have included a more detailed anatomy and physiology lesson at the time.

Nobody has said how dare she question the doctor...that I can see ... just that if she wondered why he asked her to lower her pants she could have asked if there is a pulse there.

We need OP to explain verbatum what the doctor said before we jump to conclusions as to whether the doctor breached any guidelines or did not seek informed consent !!!

tazzle22 · 09/02/2019 09:12

I have now 're read all OP posts and NOWHERE does she say she was not informed or asked for consent. It might be that the doctor included the word femoral in his explanation ...op might not have known where that was , she does not say.

Fully informed consent can be very basic and sufficient for most people, a more detailed level of information might confuse or alarm others. Some might need professional level information. This is taken into account by hcp when making a decision as to the definition of informed consent.

Kittykat93 · 09/02/2019 09:20

He should have explained ! I for one had no idea you could feel a pulse in the groin area so may be a little confused if this happened to me.

Limensoda · 09/02/2019 09:47

If it was a routine health check then it's not normal. You have high blood pressure and your heart and circulation may be affected....so it's normal. He was being thorough. You should be pleased.

WhoWants2Know · 09/02/2019 09:59

Mookie slightly off topic, but how high is your blood pressure that you've been referred on?

Original poster
Mookie81 · 09/02/2019 11:19

FrowmingFlamingo you're doing a fair bit of assuming yourself.
He checked my pulse at my wrists and ankles then went straight for the groin, I pushed my waistband down as his hand was already there. He didn't say anything about why he was doing that.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mookie81 · 09/02/2019 11:20

Just to be clear- I was not informed about why his hand was there. I assumed he was checking a pulse but as I've never had it checked there I wasn't aware if it was a usual check or not.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mookie81 · 09/02/2019 11:24

WhoWants I've been on tablets for a few months and my GP wanted to rule out other causes. The doctor at my appointment (who was very pleasant as I said) said it's likely part hereditary and part lifestyle.

OP posts:
Original poster
Mookie81 · 09/02/2019 11:26

He asked me to lay on the bed to check my pulse, then he checked my wrists, then straight to ankles, then to the groin. He then checked my breathing and heart rate with his stethoscope.

As I have said I assumed he was checking my pulse when he put his hand there, but as I have only had it checked at the wrists, I wasn't sure if it was normal or not!

OP posts:
Original poster
Mookie81 · 09/02/2019 11:30

Limensoda now I know it's usual I am pleased.
I'm a big advocate for the NHS (my mum is a neonatal nurse) and I think as a whole it's a system that should be treasured.
That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to ask a simple question about my treatment.
Asking here and getting answers is better than assuming he was wrong and taking it further as some might have.

OP posts:
HoppingPavlova · 09/02/2019 11:37

For those saying he should have explained what he was doing, it would seem he did as he told the OP he was going to check her pulses.

Booboostwo · 09/02/2019 11:58

HoppingPavlova telling someone something using terms they do not understand is not an explanation. Any medical student will tell you that for consent to be valid there has to be understanding (as well as rationality and freedom).

GabriellaMontez · 09/02/2019 12:06

@Devonlulu it is absolutely for the Dr to explain in language the patient understands, what he is doing. Otherwise, he really isn't very good. And certainly not the wonderful saint you've painted him as.

Some really sneery answers on here to a reasonable question.

Hope you're reassured op.

BrilliantDarling · 09/02/2019 12:07

@IamTheMeg

I recently had an ECG and nobody put an electrode in my vagina. Sadly

😂 😂 😂

Bombardier25966 · 09/02/2019 12:18

I'm more worried that OP doesn't know where her vagina is.

WhoWants2Know · 09/02/2019 12:49

That's helpful. I'm going to see my go in a couple of weeks and I know my blood pressure is going to be flagged up. So if it ever eventually leads to someone checking my femoral pulse, I'll be prepared. And probably waxed.

Limensoda · 09/02/2019 12:58

So if it ever eventually leads to someone checking my femoral pulse, I'll be prepared. And probably waxed

I don't think the doctor cares whether you are waxed or not. Grin

Limensoda · 09/02/2019 13:00

Just to be clear- I was not informed about why his hand was there

You should have asked, before you pulled your waistband down so he could?

GabriellaMontez · 10/02/2019 09:32

No. He should have explained before he began. That's his job.

The op isn't responsible for his failings.

HoppingPavlova · 10/02/2019 11:27

Booboostwo yes, I think everyone understands that, I agree it is basic and yes everyone is taught this. My point was that it was explained though, no technical jargon that should impede a patients understanding. The OP said they were told the Dr was now checking their pulses. The average patient would understand what checking a pulse means. Like ‘I’m going to take your temperature’ doesn’t require translation or further explaination unless trying to make a younger minor understand and comfortable. If a patient doesn’t understand as their pulses are checked after being told their pulses are being checked and saying okay, then they would ask. This seems to be what happened with the OP. The question/AIBU was not that the Dr did something without informed consent but when explained the OP thought the Dr may be bullshitting and satisfying perverted tendencies. The thread has reassured them in this regard.

Booboostwo · 10/02/2019 13:39

HoppingPavlova I didn’t know about this before reading this thread and neither did the OP, so given the proximity to an intimate area and the need to lower clothing it would have been prudent for the doctor to be explicit. It is alike saying ‘I will now take your temperature’ and doing so anally - some people won’t be expecting that.

Bambamber · 10/02/2019 13:46

It definitely sounds like he should have explained better. But if you wasn't sure what he was doing, why did you automatically pull your waistband down without actually asking?

ThatThingYouDo · 10/02/2019 13:55

Well seeing as your pulse is going to be the same wherever you check this is pretty fucking alarming!!!

Dimsumlosesum If you aren't medically trained, you shouldn't be giving medical advice. You're wrong and an idiot.

OP this is normal, please don't panic.

Thatsalovelycuppatea · 10/02/2019 14:02

Yes Normal. I've had my pulse checked plenty of times and yes it's common to do it in groin.

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