People walking in during gynae appointment

[Over40Overdating]

I know I’m not BU but my GP surgery beg to differ!

I had a routine gynae exam earlier this week and over the span of 10 minutes, 2 people walked into the room without knocking - one male, one female, both patients.
I was behind the curtain so they didn’t see anything but I was naked from the waist down & in stirrups!

Even after the second interruption the nurse refused to lock the door as it’s ‘not policy’ and when I complained to the front desk they shrugged and said it was an error, out of their control and nothing happened so what’s the problem.

Surely door locks exist for this reason & it’s not unreasonable to expect to have a gynae exam without worrying about who else might walk into the room unannounced?!

I’ve had far more internal exams than I’d care to count, and “I’m locking the door so no one can come in” is as routine as the bit of paper to drape across my lap.

I have been unlucky enough to have had many many gynae appointments over the years and every single one had the door locked. Usually they make a joke out of it being not to keep me in but to keep others out so I do remember very clearly it always being locked. They need to change their ridiculous policy. I can’t imagine anything worse than people walking in and making you jump or tense up whilst that’s going on!

Same here with mine a month ago.

I would actually include the GP in any complaint you make to the practice (simply cc’ing her into an email is fine), as IME complaints are taken more seriously then.

@Over40Overdating Thats complete madness about the complaints! Keep pushing and don't let then fob you off.

Complete madness about the door not being locked. Ive had gynae procedures on NHS and private and door has been locked. Only time it wasn't was when the exam room was off the consulting room at a Nuffield hospital, I was collected from waiting room and escorted back to reception after. So I think randoms walking in is very unlikely.

That is very poor and the NHS have a duty to protect your dignity (which you obviously felt was compromised even behind a curtain as you would be completely on edge that someone would walk through). Every smear test/coil fitting ive had has always been done in a locked room and then the bed behind a curtain (which is closed for getting changed). I would complain to the trust and there will be a complaints form on the website.

This would piss me off, big time.

Tell them you will be registering a letter to the practice and you will be noting in your letter their refusal to give you the email address and copying the letter to the Medical Council.

Mention you felt very unsafe in the environment.

Paper trail always IMO.

Doors always locked when I have been in that situation.

Very basic care IMO.

Write to them with your complaint and ask them what steps they are going to take to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Explain that for it to happen once was bad to twice in the same appointment was outrageous and that obviously the current system failed you. Give them options as what you’d like to see, such as door locked/ don’t not enter signs. Notices for patients to knock and wait etc. Everyone accepts humans make errors, it’s how the errors are rectified that ultimately makes a difference for the person on the receiving end of the error. Shoulder shrugging isn’t acceptable.

My gp surgery the medic your seeing comes to the waiting room but my parents both had surgeries were they were just buzzed/called to the room. Out of respect the would knock and wait to be called in the room but respect seems to have disappeared.

The nurse makes this joke to me too. It’s definitely normal procedure.

My gp surgery the medic your seeing comes to the waiting room but my parents both had surgeries were they were just buzzed/called to the room.

Buzzing people to come to the room is considered very old fashioned now.

It's been good practice for years that the HCP you're seeing comes to call/collect you.

There's something very wrong if random patients can wander into exam rooms! I've never had this happen.

YANBU
I had a similar appointment and nurse just asked and said as long as I approve she can lock the door.

@Jethia - that’s interesting, in my surgery the GP used to come to get patients and now they buzz with an annoying message that says can Housechat please come to room 7 please please.

My GP does the screen with your name and room number on it too. And doesn't lock doors for intimate procedures, I always assumed for patient safety/so we don't feel trapped alone with HCP - it does have the curtain in front of the door. Now I'm wondering if we use the same GP! Never had anyone walk in and never really thought of it before, but I'd not cope with anyone walking in and would complain to manager.

I've just checked on my GP website.

It names the Practice Manager and gives her phone no or tells you to write in, marking it Private & Confidential

Why were patients randomly opening doors? Who does that?
If there isn't a lock a clear notice with 'please knock before entering' should be on the door. Most GPS I've had patients are not allowed to wander down the corridor where doctors offices are unless called in.

Their complaints policy should be available on the website and it should detail what is acceptable ways to do this

They always lock the door at my practice and always check I am ok with them doing that before hand.

On a hospital ward you get gynae examines just with the curtain pulled shut around you. It never occurred to me to be annoyed by this in the hospital, as everyone on the ward is the same. If the curtain is shut surely you are private enough

Please complain to the practice manager - this is a new low.

Incredible to think patients were walking into rooms in the middle of any treatment but this is especially awful.

The attitude of the nurse and receptionist just sucks.

We don't have locks on our practice doors.

The odds of a random man pushing in are slightly less in a ward

Same here. At our surgery some of the doctors come and get you, others call you on a tannoy because their rooms are further away. If I'm seeing the latter then even though I've been called, I'll still knock.

That is outrageous! Although fictional, the same thing happened in Doctors this week but to a man having a prostate examination.
Anyway, don't listen to them about not giving you the practice managers email address, hopefully yours has a website and you should be able to find contact details on there. I've just checked my surgery and there is a complaints tab with how to report a complaint both via email and written letter wise.
I hope you get a resolution for this

Disgraceful. I'd make a formal complaint to the Practice Manager and keep at it. I'd highlight the point that one of the intruders was a man during an intimate examination of a woman. It could be an innocent misunderstanding but sexual predators often seek out jobs where they can have these encounters whether in health settings, schools, swimming pools etc. In any case, the Practice Manager should welcome the opportunity to tighten up sloppy work practices so it doesn't happen again.

I'm not necessarily surprised that they have a policy to leave doors unlocked which is for the safety of you and the practitioner. But I'd expect the HCP to give someone short shrift for barging in and that goes for whether it's an intimate procedure like yours or just talking about your ear infection. That was terrible of her and I'd highlight her poor behaviour too.

It's happened to me twice - once I was the barger but as I think you said in a post, the reception was at fault. They flash up electronic signs in the waiting room and sent me to the wrong surgery. I knocked and entered without waiting for a reply because I thought I was expected.

The female patient was sitting at the desk fully clothed but the female doctor shouted to me to get out. I was a bit put out by that but when I thought about it, it wasn't personal. She was shocked and protecting her patient which I realised she would have done if I'd been sitting there. The woman might not have been naked but she could have been discussing the most distressing things and the surgery let us all down. That's what I said in my formal complaint to the Practice Manager.

The second time a hospital cleaner barged in on my consultation and expected to be allowed to work around us. She was quite argumentative. My doctor didn't know what to say but I did and told the cleaner she would have shove off and do her dusting later on.

I didn't complain that time but perhaps I should have done. I don't really blame the doctor. She was in her early 30s and probably so flabbergasted she didn't have her wits about her.

I will reveal nothing more about my consultation except for the fact I was fully dressed except for my shoes. But it was still a private meeting between me and my doctor. No one else is meant to be there unless you consent. I don't care that you were behind a curtain and so no one could see anything. It's plain wrong.