Reasonable professional behaviour-Internal examination

[Sunnywithchanceofshowers]

Today i had a gynae appointment with an internal examination. The trainee decided to answer her bleep with her fingers still inside me. I’m not keen to ask my friends this so I’m asking all of you!
I am quite surprised she thought this was ok and trying to decide whether to give some feedback to the department. If i do, i would prefer to do it in a constructive way. The rest of the appointment wasn’t good either as she clearly hadn’t read my notes, but i suppose i did get the information i needed in the end.

@Brefugee

When you are being examined you should be the doctor's (or nurse's or whoever's) number one priority until the examination is finished

@HoppingPavlova

Lucky you are not awake during surgery then. Not uncommon at all for the surgeon to take calls, provide instruction to others, in some me institutions/situations even pause what they are doing to pop into another theatre for urgent management, then come back and resume etc. Most people are competent multi-taskers when needed, you just don’t complain about what you don’t know about😊.

Someone having 'surgery,' and having the surgeon chat to other people about the procedure, (whilst doing it,) is nothing like the experiences of the OP (and the one I posted about.) Not even a remotely similar comparison!

I doubt very much that they pop out and make calls, or go off to chat to a colleague about something halfway through cutting into the patient either!

Seriously HoppingPavlova! Utterly daft, and patronising response! Maybe YOU should not post about stuff you don't know about.😊

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No, was not me. However, in my area is common to multi-task and have someone talking at you/to you/getting instruction while you are examining/treating people. If not, it means an even longer wait time for people to be seen, then they are just bitching about that instead.

100% This. ^ 👏

Looks like your request for that poster to not be rude has not been adhered to though. Take no notice. No-one has the right to minimise someone's experience by accusing them of 'bitching' and 'banging on about shit they don't know about.'

Because of what happened to me in my early 50s, (and the appalling treatment by the nurse,) I never went for another cervical smear. I could end up getting cervical cancer and dying because of this. Why on earth would someone minimise my experience? (OR yours @Sunnywithchanceofshowers ) And other posters too, by saying 'stop complaining!' Truly nasty thing to say.

That poster's posts are rude and pretty fucking offensive actually. Better to ignore them than get bothered by them though. A angry reaction is what this kind of person looks for. They get a thrill from it. Don't give it.

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I think it's warranted to say something.

If the pager means 'emergency' then stopping the procedure to respond is fine imho. But halting mid flow to assess and respond (leaving hand inside) is not.

I'd differentiate my response between the situation with a conscious and unconscious patient.... I think most would?

@Zov Someone having 'surgery,' and having the surgeon chat to other people about the procedure, (whilst doing it,) is nothing like the experiences of the OP (and the one I posted about.) Not even a remotely similar comparison!
I doubt very much that they pop out and make calls, or go off to chat to a colleague about something halfway through cutting into the patient either!
Seriously HoppingPavlova! Utterly daft, and patronising response! Maybe YOU should not post about stuff you don't know about

Not the one being daft or talking about stuff I know nothing of. Worked in tertiary hospitals for decades. In certain cases surgeons most definitely pop into another theatre for emergency assistance etc. Not uncommon. They either stabilise or the next level there can take over for a bit, but not always. Patient is never left alone ‘half way through being cut open’, there will be people there but you can pack as appropriate, attend to something more urgent, and come back. For prolonged neuro sessions, they often pop out for a (protein)bar, skull a coffee, toilet, every few hours while the patient is ‘cut open’ on the table. Anaesthesia is always there though, they will swap over as necessary.

As for talking about the operation to those there. Not what I was talking about. I’m talking about surgery while answering questions from other theatres with the team (supervisors don’t need to be in theatre with them at all levels), questions from team in clinics wanting confirmation/approval on patients/treatments there etc, giving other areas info on patients they are treating that has cross over etc. All of this multi-tasking is standard. No idea why you think it isn’t or why any of this is daft, and r why after working in this space for decades I shouldn’t post about it? But sure, 100% attention only on every patient in front, no safe pivoting for emergencies, no playlists and singing along, and no multi-asking as that’s never done. As I said, it’s just that you don’t know about any of that, but let’s go with it doesn’t happen if it helps you.

This would have really upset me.

That’s lovely but it’s not OP’s situation. What happened to her is gross (I would have complained on the spot).

This is just whataboutery from you - those clever clever doctors who can do more than one thing at once. Still need to think about how the conscious patient might feel, no?

👏

It would have upset pretty much any woman. Utterly disgraceful behaviour!

Anyone with a grain of common sense can see the OP's situation (and the one I mentioned,) and a surgeon performing an operation/procedure are not remotely the same. Utterly ridiculous comparison. 🙄

Also, minimising the traumatic experiences that some WOMEN have gone through, shitting all over it, and claiming we 'don't know what we're on about' with ridiculous and offensive whatabouttery is an actual fucking disgrace.

Silencing a pager or checking if it's an emergency isn't ideal but totally understandable

oh come off it @HoppingPavlova

nobody is saying that surgery with a fully unconscious patient has to be like a library. We are not children so pack it in with the complete derail and minimisation of what has been (at least for some posters) a very distressing experience.

I hope that if you are a HCP it is only for patients who are unconscious, your bedside manner is appalling.

As i said: when you are treating a conscious patient - ESPECIALLY if you are fumbling around in their nether regions - have some respect. Or face the consequences of complaints.

not with your hand up somebody's vagina. The very least i would expect is "excuse me" to patient then, to the nurse/chaperone who was there "could you handle the pager please"

And if there was no option but to take it yourself? get your hand out of the patient and have some fucking respect.

I wouldn’t mind and I think it’s a bit preciously entitled to demand that a potential emergency be ignored because you’re in the middle of a follow up gyne exam.

What if it’s a maternity patient that has just had an ectopic pregnancy rupture and could die of it if that OB/GYN examining you in a post treatment follow up didn’t answer their work pager?

They don’t use these ones for gossip and social media…these are used for clinical priorities.

And taking her hand out and then re-inserting might have meant starting her exam all over again to be thorough, causing more delay for her to get to her next patient or the emergency and more distress for OP to go through half an exam and then have the exam restarted.

Consider the fact that the NHS isn’t exactly overflowing with extra doctors that handle everything at once. A doctor wrote a clear Op/Ed about how hospital directors are being forced to leave patients to die in corridors because Labour is prioritising ring fencing beds so that elective surgeries can go forward to get the wait list down.

Complaining is just a way to flex your privilege imho, we are not customers or clients of doctors, we are patients and for good reason, people would die if they had to adhere to standards of politeness like dedicating 100% of attention to you just because they are examining a certain orifice when a possible emergency bleep goes off.

Complaints like the one OP is contemplating is one of the primary reasons doctors are leaving the NHS. It’s like everyone is only thinking of themselves and not all the other patients that need them, and refuse to understand that yes sometimes another patient is higher priority than you. OP only suffered a little frisson of discomfort and annoyance, and she’s going to complain? When we have over 250 avoidable deaths in U.K. hospitals every week due to staff shortages? Come on. Have a look at the big picture.

Because of what happened to me in my early 50s, (and the appalling treatment by the nurse,) I never went for another cervical smear. I could end up getting cervical cancer and dying because of this.

@Zov, for your own future health & self, and if you haven’t given it a go, I would highly recommend trauma therapy focussed on what was done to you. As a survivor of CSA, trauma therapy helped me reduce the distress from panic attacks to profuse sweating and shaking which is manageable so I have been able to have the smear tests since 2015. Please don’t let what you suffered cast a shadow over your life. You can conquer it.

That is the biggest load of crap I have read for a while. “Be grateful whatever crumbs the NHS gives you, don’t be so entitled”. Hell no!

Speaking of the entitled, we have a real live French countess on here. Of course milady the Comtesse du Délicat would complain. 🥹

Yes and I am entitled to dignity during an intimate examination as are you and OP and everyone else…..

And taking her hand out and then re-inserting might have meant starting her exam all over again to be thorough, causing more delay for her to get to her next patient or the emergency and more distress for OP to go through half an exam and then have the exam restarted

What a stupid thing to say. It takes seconds to remove your fingers from someone’s vagina.

Oui, Comtesse, the preservation of your noble dignity is far more important than responding to an emergency bleep that could cost the life of a mere paysanne.
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Sounds like you’ve never had a full internal examination because what I said isn’t stupid.

@LoremIpsumCici you dropped this chérie:

Sounds like you’ve never had a full internal examination because what I said isn’t stupid.

Ok. Educate me. How long does it take to remove your fingers from someone’s vagina?