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?!

You maybe right; but in fairness women cleaners (and even women not wanting to queue for the ladies) frequent men's toilets where they have it all hanging out.... at least when having intimate inspections we're behind curtains.

Personally I am for dignity for all not double standards. I really wish dignity for all was the mantra everyone would get behind.

How awful I’d have been mortified; tge practice need to alter the policy immensely they have a duty of care to you & you have a right to be treated with dignity & respect at all times & above everything you were in a vulnerable situation the nurse acted very unprofessionally; thank god my surgery had more respect for their patients x

That's really strange and YANBU to complain! At my last smear the nurse locked the door (then double checked it again) before I got changed.

At our practice doors are locked and you can request a chaperone.

I have had a similar experience. I was naked from the waist down, in stirrups and with a speculum in place. The couch was completely in line with the door. While the nurse was footling around (trying to find the strings of my coil to remove it) the door flies open and in walks a female doctor. She looked shocked and left immediately, apologising profusely, and the nurse was mortified and ran to lock the door, but the doctor would have had a full on view. I didn’t complain because it was a doctor, and a female one at that, but I did feel sick at my vulnerability. The nurse checked sincerely that I was ok to continue, and she may even have suggested I could make a complaint. And that’s partly why I didn’t. But it was sh*t. I’m due a smear now but haven’t booked it yet!

That’s awful
its not just about being seen, you want it over ASAP and you had two delays. And extra embarrassment and stress. That’s stinks. Make a formal complaint.

Tbh if the surgery is making complaining hard, I would just go to the local press to name and shame them!

That's absolutely not on OP, you have the right to privacy and dignity and you should raise a complaint with the practice manager on those grounds.

www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/regulations/regulation-10-dignity-respect

Complain to your local integrated care board if they won't take complaints seriously at the surgery. You can try googling "county" ICB or there's a list here:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/find-your-local-integrated-care-board

How are patients wandering around unescorted in an area that is not the waiting room?

By the logic of the HCP you complained to, they could do intimate exams and procedures in the waiting room and do away with private examing rooms altogether.

This was appalling, OP.

I've lived in the US for many years and have seen a shed load of doctors for OBgyn and routine checkups. In no doctor's office was there a system where patients walk by themselves out of the waiting room and into the examining room area. You are summoned by surname at the doorway to the examining area and escorted to the exam room by a nursing assistant every time. On the way to the exam room, you stand on the scale to have your weight checked and noted, and once there, the assistant checks your blood pressure and heart rate.

He or she then leaves, closing the door, and adjusting the coloured 'flags' that are attached to the door to indicate various room or patient conditions - patient inside waiting for doctor, room ready for cleaning, patient waiting for orocedure, do not disturb/ HCP with patient, etc.

In the old days, your chart would be clipped to the outside of the door with your weight and vitals noted, and the HCP would enter with it and fill in details as the visit progressed. Now it's all digital.

It's a bit of an odd practice! I regularly get to go to different gp surgeries through having been a carer and rooms in the 5 ive been to are strictly only for patients when the door is opened for them by a member of staff (literally come and call you from a waiting room OR wait at the door and they'll be would Ms conkers please go to room 12 type announcement or display). Staff knock on doors too, they don't walk straight in EVEN if it's their room and they've been out of it, such as getting a doctor to consult.
Mainly it's the staff fetching patients from a waiting room or area model.

However, I find it incredible that any patient, having an intimate examination at their surgery wouldn't be having said examination without doors being locked.

It happened to me, during my last smear. I was wearing a skirt, but had just got onto the bed, with my knees wide apart - when another nurse walked into the room without knocking to get something! I was mortified!

After she’d gone, the nurse asked me if I was ready? I said “Yes, so long as nobody else walks in!”

How awful for you!
Complain! I know it often seems to be waste of time complaining about the NHS, but I think it's important that we do

I didn't and I still regret it.

Only just found this thread. I work in the NHS and this virtually every single hospital has "treating people with respect and dignity" and this fundamentally goes against that. If it's against their policy they need to a new policy!

Please please complain. I'm so angry for you.

I would be livid!! I don’t even like the nurse / doctor down there let alone members of the public strolling in!

I would call again tomorrow when a different receptionist is on duty and again ask for the managers details so
you can complain…. If they refuse I would go above them and complain to the ombudsman or whoever you complain to about a surgery!

I had to complain last year because items kept being removed from my daughters prescription everytime the hospital prescribed something new… so because my daughter was prescribed a different type of needle to trial they removed the old ones despite the letter clearly stating all previous prescriptions were still current… but they’ve removed items previously too … and when I’ve put in the repeat for an item they’ve removed they haven’t bothered to call to clarify, but just ignored the request… so when I’ve gone to pick up the prescription a week later it wasn’t there! Bloody terrible considering type 1 diabetics literally can’t live without these things! So I emailed a complaint.. and got an almost instant response by telephone!

I’d call in again and ask for the email address to complain to and inform them they’re being recorded!.

https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/sites/default/files/How_to_raise_concerns_about_a_general_practice_0.pdf

At our practice they call you over from the waiting room over the tannoy and you go to the room unescorted. The corridors where the consulting rooms are can’t be seen from the waiting room or reception. You could open or try any door.

This happened to me a long time ago. Another nurse walked in mid smear to look for something. They started talking about me like I wasn't there with one remarking that I had a big os. Missed a few smear tests after that. When I finally went back the door was locked and the nurse was really kind and closer to my own age which helped.

I was having a routine smear test. The GP surgery was undergoing a redo so the wall was 'temporary'. I'd been happy burbling away to the nurse about how good my vagina had been to me blah blah. My partner outside told me the other patients waiting were either smirking or grimacing!

Why are they wandering around opening doors to consultation room?

Don’t worry about it … it was a controlled situation and curtain around you
they should have knocked for sure
No locked doors are policy for a reason no doubt… Fire safety for one thing

The nurse always locks the door when I have a smear, complain!