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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To have made a complaint about this health practitioner

25 replies

relax2 · 18/10/2019 21:18

Had to go to hospital today to see about one of my children having to have some corrective surgery . Doctor calls us in to a room to discuss it then leaves to get senior doctor advice. DS (5) sits on a swivel chair that has been left in there a small one. I look around and see there's a load of notes just on chairs next to me and think "gee I'm sure I wasn't mean to be left with these"
After 15 minutes a health practitioner enters the room and says to DS "get off that it's got wheels" so I said "oh doctor said he can sit there" she replies "I don't care what the doctor said I'm saying don't" DS says "oh that's not fair " and she snapped at him "it's not safe" she then says "get out of here there's confidential notes , you wouldn't like it if your notes were left would you"

She's right I wouldn't , however the doctor told us to wait there for him to get back .

When we were leaving I made a complaint about her manor, I know the pay is shocking , lack of breaks etc but there's non need to speak to people like that is there?? Was I U to make a complaint?!

OP posts:

Moominfan · 18/10/2019 21:19

Sound very heavy handed. I'd complain to, no way to speak to a child.

Skipsaretheanswertoitall · 18/10/2019 21:20

No, based on what you said I don’t think you were unreasonable. She might have had a hard day but she didn’t need to take it out on you. It’s not your fault the notes were left in there 🤷‍♀️

Original poster

relax2 · 18/10/2019 21:22

Sorry should have added when she said to him "it's not safe" I did say "please don't speak to him like that he's just 5" to which she said "well he could hurt" 🙄 yes I know that but he could also hurt doing many other things!

OP posts:

Honeybee85 · 18/10/2019 21:23

What a rude cow.
That’s no way to speak to your child and they are responsible for not leaving confidential notes around, not you or your child to not be around them. Definetly complain, even it’s just to protect other more vulnerable people against this kind of powergame.

SuchAToDo · 18/10/2019 21:24

You mean the swivel chair at the drs desk?

Maybe she reacted like that because she realised that you were left in the room with someone else's notes And it breaches patient confidentiality...or if the seat was at the drs desk maybe she didn't want sitting there incase anything got touched on the desk

I can understand her not wanting you near the notes...

Where did she send you to when she asked you to leave that place?

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 18/10/2019 21:24

She should not have said that to a child. I don't understand about the chair though. Is that the one your son was sat in to start with?

Tolleshunt · 18/10/2019 21:24

YANBU, she spoke to you very rudely. There was no excuse for it. It sounds like she needs some retraining to remind her of how to speak to people with basic courtesy.

Sirzy · 18/10/2019 21:25

The dr didn’t say he could play on the seat though did he? He left you in the room not to play on the seat

LolaSmiles · 18/10/2019 21:46

It doesn't sound to me like the doctor said "sure sit on my desk chair and swivel on it near notes".

She was abrupt but then I also wouldn't have a child playing on a chair like that.

londonrach · 18/10/2019 22:02

Seriously im shocked you let him play on one of those chairs. The doctor didnt say he could. They not toys. Yabu.

Lhastingsmua · 18/10/2019 22:08

Her delivery could have been more cheery but I genuinely don’t see an issue with what she said.

Your child was having fun in a swivel chair but that’s not necessarily safe.

If your version of events are true, it’s more likely the doctor would come out looking worse as they left you unattended with other patient’s notes for 15 minutes - a massive breach of patient confidentiality. That trumps her lack of bedside manner.

Lhastingsmua · 18/10/2019 22:11

Also I think you come across as argumentative.

She asked him to sit elsewhere, you kept making excuses instead of following a reasonable request.

She asked you to leave that room due to patient confidentiality, you were aware that there were other’s notes - why didn’t you just wait outside for the doctor if she politely asked you? I mean I wouldn’t insist on sitting near the notes.

CalmFizz · 18/10/2019 22:13

Why didn’t you ask your son to get off and sit nearby you?

Notthemessiah · 18/10/2019 22:21

I'm sure that making complaints about people over nothing is a great way of making sure the NHS stays under motivated and understaffed. God forbid you don't get the required amount of deference from these public servants - don't they know you pay their wages?

I do particularly like the way you almost empathise with them over the stress of working for the NHS but then don't bother.

Lhastingsmua · 18/10/2019 22:45

One thing with complaints against medical professionals is that they are too valuable to be sacked for no valid reason - so this exchange would, at best, just lead to a brief chat between them and their manager. They wouldn’t get harshly reprimanded if that’s what you’re after. The notes being left out for you to access is much more serious.

bridgetreilly · 18/10/2019 22:54

I think I'd be more likely to make a complaint about the doctor who left a patient unsupervised in a room with lots of other people's medical files in easy reach.

BackforGood · 18/10/2019 22:58

YABU.
He shouldn't have been mucking around on the swivel chair - you should have prevented him doing that and not had to leave it to the member of staff.
The Dr didn't say he could play on it (presumably you would have mentioned that if they had), so why did you say (s)he did ?
You are the parents and shouldn't have been allowing him to be mucking about.

The notes thing sounds odd. If it was worded exactly as you say, then that was a bit rude, but hardly worth making a complaint about. Now yet more resources have to go in to 'investigating a complaint' rather than treating patients

Greyhound22 · 19/10/2019 06:26

I may not be reading it right but I see no where in the post that says the child was 'mucking about' on the chair. He was simply sitting on it?

Absolutely complain - the amount of shit staff in the NHS is also a reason it is so poor at the moment - sadly I have been in hospital for most of the last 3 months and whilst there have been some amazing staff there have been some that frankly shouldn't have been let loose with a pot plant let alone a human being.

I would absolutely not be spoken to like that. The correct thing to do would have been to think 'shit those notes have been left' and to have removed them. If the child was pissing about on the chair then fair enough but if he was simply sat there there was nothing to say was there? My son always sits in one when he goes for his ear appointment - there has been no need for hysteria yet.

DeathStare · 19/10/2019 06:29

Did the doctor actually say "it's OK for your DS to play on my swivel chair"? Or did s/he say "please wait here a moment"? The two are not the same.

Monty27 · 19/10/2019 06:35

Id have read the notes. Or is that just me?
The woman may not have realised you were in the room and had left the notes there herself and freaked when she realised her private space was being used. Professional misconduct etc. Notwithstanding health and safety issues being raised in a tribunal.
What happened then?

Olive30 · 19/10/2019 06:35

Yanbu. There is no need to be rude. From your description, her manner was rude and people should not be treated like that by a professional. I say this with the utmost sympathy for NHS staff's workload and stress. Despite this, you have to keep professional at work unless patients were rude or abusive, of course.

Doodlepip1 · 19/10/2019 07:12

Mumsnet can be crazy...
I have seen patients and needed advice from consultant supervisor during training which often means leaving patients in room alone- I do that because it’s more convenient for patients and sometimes they are not mobile and can’t move around that well.

It’s inevitable that some notes will be in the room too though as we keep each set of notes back to dictate after the clinic/check our notes. If you give them back to admin staff they tend to disappear and go back to medical records!

We don’t dictate as we go along as inevitably clinic would slow down and patients would complain!

Literally this happens day in and day out in NHS (by everyone too as even experienced consultants have to get opinions off another consultant) only thing is the notes should be kept away from the patient and covered with paper to not reveal identity of patient. You don’t expect the patient to then reach over and start going through notes lol. Often I have to leave my personal belongings there too and many drs have had their personal items stolen!

In future now I will just make patients sit outside to protect myself and my belongings! Who cares if it inconveniences them! Unfortunately asking for a consultant opinion is your right as a junior dr and part of training.

Original poster

relax2 · 19/10/2019 08:22

The doctor didn't say he could play on the seat he said he could sit on it , that's exactly what he was doing , sitting on it playing I spy with me and his sibling.

She asked us to go to the waiting room. That was fine we did but the doctor told us to wait there , it's not my issue that he was using her room that she had left open with about 20 sets of patient notes!

OP posts:

Original poster

relax2 · 19/10/2019 08:24

P.s I absolutely would never ever look at anyone else's details . The long and short of her reaction was that she was worried thar a patient was in the room with notes she had left unsecured so got a bit tizzy over it and took it out on us.

Today I know I wasn't actually unreasonable , if she had just said "ooh hi guys sorry would you mind not being in here just whilst he comes back" nicely then I wouldn't have had a reason to complain.

OP posts:

OhTheRoses · 19/10/2019 08:30

The nurse was unspeakably rude. Sadly it is common practice in the nhs. I challenge it now immediately. "I beg your pardon, who do you think you are speaking to".

I don't find drs nearly as rude as nurses.

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