To find my report from breast clinic condescending?

[duletty]

I’m 44, had breastfeeding pain for a few months and then found a large lump on the underside of my arm near arm pit.
Gp arranged a quick appointment (was three weeks when usually a two week wait)....
Any way after mammogram and ultrasound they said it was cysts and calcification, so all good.
Got letter today outlining results and it said:
“Saw the this delightful lady in clinic today”......etc etc
I find this language unprofessional and it pissed me off that it was shitty code like a child’s school report.
I have to write reports for EHCPs and use appropriate professional language do it set me on edge.
Am I being precious?

I’m in a non letter writing speciality.

I graduated 20yrs ago. This was the way letters were dictated.
I wouldn’t read anything into it, but I agree it is increasingly looking outmoded.

My father’s tend to say “ whose daughter is a consultant X and daughter in law a GP”.

This is because before clinic lots of people just re-read the previous letters as a typed summary so they include all relevant info. In this case that Dad has medical relatives chuntering away in the background.

@Witchofzog

Fgs. A consultant calls you delightful (which by the way many do call patients delightful) and you were pissed off and want to moan about it. Yes you are being precious and really not at all delightful by the way. There are much worse things to be annoyed about than this

Yup. And they will write similar about men. Sometimes I do wonder if people look for reasons to be indignant.

Just checked my last hospital letter, I only got described as "kind"

Not sure what to make of that😳

I do not write such things in my letters but I am aware that many Drs do (especially older ones). GPs often write such things in referral letters as much as consultants do in reply.

It is genuine and not sarcastic and not sex specific.

The only code is that you don't get 'pleasant' if you aren't! You just get no description but that could also mean you have a Dr like me who doesn't write descriptions.

I would let it go as it has nothing to do with the competence of the Dr.

We must have had the same consultant! Made me laugh though not cross when I got this in my diagnosis letter. I am surprised you have not encountered the same meaningless platitudes in the SEN world as we have experienced them a lot with ds1 and ds2 reports.

I guess I do say that eg I was pleased to see Mrs X so well or I was sorry to hear that Mr Y has not been doing well if indeed I was. Not a judgement on their personalities but a comment on the success (or otherwise) of treatment. I would perhaps say this if I have been seeing the person for a while. I do care about my patients you know and most Drs do. We wouldn't write stuff that is untrue or unjustified as we know that everyone can request to see their notes these days.

I am rather bemused at the number of posters attacking the OP for not being more grateful for her clear result, as if being grateful excludes finding anything at all associated with the process less than perfect and optimal and worthy of undying gratitude.

Why are you bemused? Someone receives a letter saying that they don't have cancer, and they decide to choose to moan about the fact they were referred to as 'delightful'?

Talk about seeing the negative in a situation! I have no time for that shite.

I think that's fine, PP. It's a comment on their health/response to treatment, not their personality or manner.

It’s very common. I was offended when my elbow surgeon had nothing nice to say about me.

@theld. Not the PP.

The NHS has got pros and cons. You can be grateful for treatment, and appreciate kind and competent individual practitioners, at the same time as recognising there are aspects of the service that could improve.

Be thankful it didn't say NFN!

Personally I'd just be 'delighted' my results were clear yes I think you are being precious.

I would imagine well informed means has a tendency to Google a lot.

If someone doesn't have anything nice to say about you, they may just be a letter writer that doesn't make personal comments.

When I have a patient who is an arse, if it isn't relevant I leave it out. If it is relevant I'll tend to quote what they said eg 'Mrs X said that she believed her cancer had been caused by chemtrails' and not put personal comments about my beliefs about it.

I’ve had this a lot. The strangest one was the paediatrician who wrote that my son was “very handsome” - I mean, i think he’s handsome but I’m biased 😂

I am not a medic (law is my game) but this cut & paste gave me a bit of a laugh.... (probably familiar to medics on this thread):

TOP MEDICAL ABBREVIATIONS
CTD - Circling the Drain (A patient expected to die soon)
GLM - Good looking Mum
GPO - Good for Parts Only
TEETH - Tried Everything Else, Try Homeopathy
UBI - Unexplained Beer Injury

Digging for Worms - varicose vein surgery
Departure lounge - geriatric ward
Handbag positive - confused patient (usually elderly lady) lying on hospital bed clutching handbag
Woolworth's Test - Anaesthetic term (if you can imagine patient shopping in Woolies, it's safe to give a general anaesthetic)
----

cut and paste from a web page which was at pains to point out that these abbreviations are very much a dying art (as someone says above due to data protection laws/right to request copies of everything etc)..

now I'm sure I did not see "handbag positive" in my breast cancer correspondence.... errrr

All of those are funny but also went out with the ark. As did NFN - was a myth back in 1999.

One of the problems with writing 'pleasant lady' is do you do it for some or everyone? A lot just use it as their standard opening sentence.

We have had a good giggle in our team seeing some people who are very much NOT pleasant or delightful described as such and wondering who exactly turned up at clinic that day.

There is no code, it's a factual letter. I'd read 'well-informed' as someone who was well-informed, not someone who had turned up with 400 pages of Google printouts.

Its code. If they don't call you lovely or delightful or similar, the other doctor knows you are difficult/rude/total knob head.

It's really really not.

It’s standard, doctors use that language all the time and they’ve said it without thinking, just on autopilot I wouldn’t read into it.

It’s better than what it used to be - some elderly patients I’ve seen still had old typewritten letters in their notes from the 50s, “I saw this delightful spinster today in clinic...”

So, you went to a breast clinic presumably because you were worried you might have a sinister lump growing, and in the letter that confirms you do not have cancer, you're actually pissed off that the consultant has paid you a compliment?

FFS.

(and as per previous posts, this is standard language, though in our Trust they say 'lovely', not delightful.)

@Isthisfinallyit

Errr what do you want them to write?

How about "I saw Mr. or Mrs. Thingy today". There is no need to add anything subjective.

That's what they do if you're an arsehole

As if the NHS doesn't have enough pressures to deal with without having patients complaining about the fact the consultant has used kind words.

Unbelievable.

But it's not 'kind words' it's some sort of bizarre code intended to give secret messages to other doctors and everyone else interprets in different ways. Totally ridiculous, inappropriate and shouldn't happen.

Letters should be factual - how hard is it to write 'The patient has X symptoms so is likely to be suffering from Y condition and this causes Z pain/inconvenience/upset with his/her day to day living?