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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

aibu and racist to want to change dentist?

37 replies

iloveknitting · 02/10/2007 13:43

aibu and racist to want health care professionals (doctors, dentists, nurses etc)
to speak english well enough for me to understand what they are saying, i know its not easy learning and speaking a new language but i feel that in this line of work good communication is essential.

i went to a new dentist yesterday and i could barely understand what he was saying to me his accent was so strong, i felt too embarrassed to ask him to keep repeating himself so i just sat there nodding, i left not really knowing if i need root canal or not or what state the rest of my teeth are in.

ive had the same with the doctor, i couldn't understand a word he was saying and it took me ages to figure out that he was asking if my bowels were moving properly

is it unreasonable to change dentist/doctor for this reason?

OP posts:

hertsnessex · 02/10/2007 13:52

hhhmmm, i think this will kick off iloveknitting.

although i partially agree, as you do NEED to communicate with a healthcare provider.

As long as its not the colour of their skin, race, or religion etc, and its just the fact you cant understand them, then i think YANBU.

maisemor · 02/10/2007 13:53

Well I always bring my husband to the doctors, as I don't understand half of what they are saying (me being the foreigner here) if that is any help .

You do need to go out of the doctors though with a full understanding as to what is or is not wrong with you. Otherwise there is absolutely no reason for you to go to the doctors in the first place.

wildpatch · 02/10/2007 13:53

no its not unreasobanle at all

Tutter · 02/10/2007 13:54

i think you're extremely unlucky if you've had both a dentist and doctor with accent/dialect so strong that you actually couldn't understand them

do you live in barnsley then? [innocent]

margoandjerry · 02/10/2007 13:54

No and no.

It's almost racist of you almost to think you might be being racist iyswim

Of course health professionals should be able to communicate. An accent is fine too. As long as you can understand what's being said.

COUNTPinkChickULA · 02/10/2007 13:55

my dentist is polish and first time i visited i couldnt understand a word..i complained (although practice manager is my friend) and last time i went he was very clear, must have been practising

COUNTPinkChickULA · 02/10/2007 13:55

my friend from middlesbrough cant understand the geordie or scootish accentLOL

margoandjerry · 02/10/2007 13:56

I live in London and have experienced something similar although we battled through.

Throughout my pg, I never ever saw a single British midwife or doctor (meaning born here with a native accent regardless of ethnic origin).

That was fine as they were all good communicators but have come across the same problem.

Blandmum · 02/10/2007 13:56

My mother has a very , very strong Welsh accent.

He doctor had a very , very stong Indian Accent.

She went to hom to ask for a referal to the chiropodist for her bunions. He wrote her a letter to gain sheltered housing.

Crazy but true story. I think that good communication should be the bedrock of a relationshop between a patient and health practitioner

Ellbell · 02/10/2007 13:57

LOL @ Tutter. I'm not sure if you are being unreasonable or not, but I do agree that it's important to understand what is said to you in these situations. I think you should have kept on asking until you got a comprehensible answer.

meemar · 02/10/2007 13:58

You are not being racist unless this is about race.

Would you change dentist if the person was white english speaking and
a) was hard of hearing and you had to repeat things?

b)Had a strong British regional accent that you found hard to understand?

If the answer is no, then you are being unreasonable and possibly racist.

mytwopenceworth · 02/10/2007 14:09

No. Of course you're not. You are not saying that you want to change to a dentist, are you? You are saying you want a healthcare professional you can understand.

I find, for example, some of the very strong scottish accents very very difficult and end up just nodding like those naff dogs people have in the back window of their cars.

Kewcumber · 02/10/2007 14:15

I employ a spaniard whose accent was so thick that she really couldn;t be understood on the phone. We had to tell her to improve her accent (her command of english was good enough just her accent) and she went to English conversation classes. She;s still a little hard to understnad at times but much better. So no not unreasonable.

However - sometimes it is just a case of getting used to the accent and not pretending you've understood when you haven't.

If he/she is a good dentist though, I'd put up with a dodgy accent in exchange for a good dentist.

Original poster

iloveknitting · 02/10/2007 14:24

its not about skin colour or which country they come from. its about receiving proper care, which didn't happen with me because i couldn't understand what was being said to me because the accent was so strong.

in todays ultra politically correct society it feels like im wrong in wanting to change, but its not because the person is asian or south african, its because i can't understand what they are saying and could answer their questions wrongly and get a misdiagnosis.
and i found it very worrying when i had to see my gp about some bleeding when i was 8wks pregnant and it took me ages to get him to understand what i was saying, and ages for me to figure out what he was saying, it took about 40 mins for a scan at the hospital to be arranged because we just couldn't understand what the other was saying.

OP posts:

kekouan · 02/10/2007 14:55

Try doing dictation from tape for some of these doctors - medical words are hard to differentiate at the best of times, let alone when you can barely understand them.

I don't think you're being racist at all, and chances are that you're not the only one with this problem. I would change doctors, otherwise there's a risk of misunderstanding some vital point and putting your health at risk.

Doesn't matter what colour their skin is at all... healthcare professionals should be able to make themselves understood.

kekouan · 02/10/2007 14:56

and by 'these doctors' I don't mean anything bad/racist, just some of the ones I've worked with.

saltire · 02/10/2007 14:58

On the other side of the coin, so to speak,
I am changing doctors (lots of reasons) but one of the reasons is that every time I go in there the reception staff make a big deal out of my accent, and repeatedly say "Sorry, what did you say" , or "I can't understand what you are saying, can you speak properly" was another.
So if they can't understand me, then how do I know I'm getting the correct treatment?

TellusMater · 02/10/2007 14:59

My (Edinburgh)Grandad's first job on joining the Gordon Highlanders was apparently to translate between the Aberdonian men and their Oxford-educated CO.

It is only sensible to be able to understand your doctor, but your use of the phrase "ultra-politically correct" makes me ...

saltire · 02/10/2007 15:05

Tellus - my accent is Scots, but I'm very careful to speak slowly and articulate my words for people who live near me and may not understand. After 14 years of living the length and breadth of Britain, I've had to. However, I still think the receptionshits at the surgery are being a bit rude.

TellusMater · 02/10/2007 15:08

God Saltire - I hope you weren't offended . I posted that before I read yours.It was always told against the poncey officer, not the others. They were Gordon Highlanders FGS!

suzywong · 02/10/2007 15:12

no, not unreasonable at all
simple really

FWIW I was considering changing my tiler (doing a renovation) because I couldn't understand what he was saying. But over here it's perfectly OK to go "What?" until you do get it. I think your case is another example of middle class guilt making things more complicated than they really need to be.

suzywong · 02/10/2007 15:12

no, not unreasonable at all
simple really

saltire · 02/10/2007 15:14

I wasn't offended - even I can't understand an Aberdonian. and lets be honest, Oxford educated Officers (or most officers if the truth be told) wouldn't make an effort to try and understand. I got it a lot, especially in Cambs on a base there, most Officers I ever had to deal with would stand looking glaikit at me, while a friend "translated"
The point I think I was trying to make was that sometimes it is difficult for us to understand accents, but when someone is trying really hard to adjust it (like I have to) then others should try to accept it better.
I had to deal with an Asian doctor yesterday, I really struggled to understand him, the upshot being thatDS2 got dishcarged because "double vison is normal" is what he told me. I had problems understanding him, but DS2 didn't, he answered straight away whereas I took a second or two to digest what had been said

SharpMolarBear · 02/10/2007 15:14

I'm from near Middlesbrough
when at university i used to translate byker grove for housemates

meemar · 02/10/2007 15:38

Saltire - isn't it amazing that kids can do that? It's like they are more tuned in or something!

My DS1 (age 4) often has to translate what DS2 says - he doesn't have a thick accent, just speaks 2 year-old

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