Do I call or email the surgery

[AutumnDance]

I had to got to hospital last week for a colonoscopy appointment. I wasn't long in the ward. I went for 12.15 and I was out by 2.30. the nurse gave me a piece of paper with a vague list of the findings. The doctor didn't speak to me afterwards. One of these words is a condition of the gut that causes inflammation and infections. This was the reason for my GP referral by the way. It was suspected I had this but we didn't know it. The paper I was given from the hospital was one piece of paper and it was so vague. The never spoke to me after the procedure. The paper said the endoscopy report will be sent to the GP. Not one doctor rang me all week from the practice.

I am on a support group now for the condition and there's different levels of severity. I don't know anything about this except for what I read on Google and from the support of strangers on a group. I wasn't told anything about the findings of the scope from the doctor who performed it on me or even from my own GP practice. So pretty much I got a diagnosis on a piece of paper and that's all it was.

@Dilbertian

Did your GP say she suspected diverticulitis? You can have other colon conditions at the same time as diverticulosis without it being diverticulitis. IBS, for example.

The GP gave me a vague idea as to what it could be but she said it's not a diagnosis. She mentioned the condition that causes inflammation and infections in the gut. She referred me for the scope to rule it in or out. Sure enough the scope identified diverticulosis. There is a high probability that, that is what it was last summer when I was sick.

Looking back I spent years suffering dismissing pains and cramps as period pains. It was 2020 when I found fevers that would come and go and in reality I was running a low grade fever for months before I even took myself to the doctor. I suspect this is something that I had for quite some time.

They may have emailed the report to the GP or put it in the mail. Private letters tend to arrive later than the NHS ones at our surgery.

The letter would then be scanned onto your records and sent to your GP, who may not have admin time to read them every day. Some surgeries send them via a coding team to add the correct diagnosis to your notes before forwarding to the GP.

GP may well then get a secretary to send you a letter, or ask someone to call you to book an appointment. Many surgeries have lots of staff off at the moment due to sickness/family sickness.

If your surgery has a contact the practice facility on their website I would use that to ask if results received yet. Otherwise, do you have access to your online records to see if a new letter has been received or new diagnosis added there, if so you should chase as they have obviously received something.
Good luck!

@Milliways

They may have emailed the report to the GP or put it in the mail. Private letters tend to arrive later than the NHS ones at our surgery.

The letter would then be scanned onto your records and sent to your GP, who may not have admin time to read them every day. Some surgeries send them via a coding team to add the correct diagnosis to your notes before forwarding to the GP.

GP may well then get a secretary to send you a letter, or ask someone to call you to book an appointment. Many surgeries have lots of staff off at the moment due to sickness/family sickness.

If your surgery has a contact the practice facility on their website I would use that to ask if results received yet. Otherwise, do you have access to your online records to see if a new letter has been received or new diagnosis added there, if so you should chase as they have obviously received something.
Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply back. It's great to get an idea of the ins and out of medical admin stuff and it puts my mind at ease somewhat. I like my GPs in the local practice and I trust them so they will hopefully phone me next week. I will relax and take it easy and put it to the back of my mind til next week.

I was thinking about contacting the surgery last week on the Friday but I decided to wait another day or two. I presume the GP has the report by now. There's been no communications from my GP since then. I can now only presume they are waiting for the biopsy results to come through before they contact me. The the discharge paper said the biopsy results may take 2 weeks and will be forwarded to the gp. I read on a local Facebook group sometimes biopsy results can be weeks 3/4/5 weeks.

I'm disgusted and disappointed how there was one person to talk to me since the procedure. From the consultant who scoped me to my GP/s in the practice. All I got was a piece of paper going home with a list of findings and that was that. The least they could do is talk to me.

Hi , sorry about your experience.
Does your GP know you want to talk to them ? Sounds a stupid question but in a lot of areas the patient is informed of the findings by endoscopy staff and then told would be contacted if biopsy change management
It may be that with a benign diagnosis your GP may not realise you have not had this explained to you
Have you booked a telephone appt to discuss with the GP ?

@FelicityBennett

Hi , sorry about your experience. Does your GP know you want to talk to them ? Sounds a stupid question but in a lot of areas the patient is informed of the findings by endoscopy staff and then told would be contacted if biopsy change management It may be that with a benign diagnosis your GP may not realise you have not had this explained to you Have you booked a telephone appt to discuss with the GP ?

I don't know what the protocol is here. I was never really sick before and I never had to be referred to the hospital until this experience. I presumed the GP would have contacted me to discuss the findings from the scope but that didn't happen. I was referred last summer. They don't know that I want more details from the scope. I was to know what was found and the extent of the diverticulosis if it's mild or moderate or severe. I haven't a clue what's happening - if it's my job to contact them or if it's their job to contact me.

I'm actually very stressed about it all and I have been on the verge of tears since last Thursday. The scope was the week before. I presumed someone would have been in touch with me but nope.

I have about 4 and half years of the cigarettes and it's only within the past few days I am experiencing intense cravings for them now but I am fighting through them. It's actually very difficult.

I don't know what to say on the phone. I don't know if I should wait and another week to see if the biopsy results come back.

I am also anxious wondering if there's been a communication breakdown through the whole entire process. Was it the consultants job to talk to me after the scope or was he going to leave the matter to my GP? Does the GP presume the consultant filled me in on the findings from the scope?

My GP does generally send on blood test results by email so I presume the same such go for this. There hasn't been an email and I checked the spam folder too.

I'm on a Facebook group for people with diver and other people have treatment plans from their doctors and managing the condition. All I was told last summer was eat more fibre.

When my dog needed vet care a few years ago, there were several tests carried out all with a varied result time but my vet kept me informed every step of the way.

The report may not even have reached the practice. Taking weeks to come through in our surgery. If biopsies were taken they take several weeks to get results then back to consultant then to GP

@Musicaltheatremum

The report may not even have reached the practice. Taking weeks to come through in our surgery. If biopsies were taken they take several weeks to get results then back to consultant then to GP

How are reports taking so long? The discharge paper said it will be sent in 2 to 3 working days. It doesn't take weeks to send an email or if it's by post, it doesn't take weeks for a national mail service.

It is normal for the patient to contact the GP to ask for the results of their tests, not wait for the GP to contact you.

Pick up the phone.

Hi Op, just a further example of the the time it may take to get results: I have regular Mri's to monitor a brain tumor, the results take 4 to 6 weeks to come through, some people have waited 4 months, for results. The delay is caused by large volumes and a shortage of qualified staff, to review the results. Yes your vet will give a better service, for your dog!

I'd say in the NHS good news travels extremely slowly and bad news travels fast.

So the fact you have heard nothing is actually excellent news even though it is driving you bananas.

If you have an e-consult facility at your GP surgery then emailing them to ask if they have the results and that you would like to discuss them with a GP as you were given some minimal info that you don't understand and you have lots of questions about.

Did you have sedation when you had your colonscopy? I ask as then I had an endoscopy they told me that if I had sedation I wouldn't be able to be told anything about my results at the time which may be why all you have is a little scrap of paper.

@AnnaMagnani

I'd say in the NHS good news travels extremely slowly and bad news travels fast.

So the fact you have heard nothing is actually excellent news even though it is driving you bananas.

If you have an e-consult facility at your GP surgery then emailing them to ask if they have the results and that you would like to discuss them with a GP as you were given some minimal info that you don't understand and you have lots of questions about.

Did you have sedation when you had your colonscopy? I ask as then I had an endoscopy they told me that if I had sedation I wouldn't be able to be told anything about my results at the time which may be why all you have is a little scrap of paper.

Yeah, at this stage, I'm not afraid of anything sinister showing. It would be nice to be told the condition of my guts and the severity of what I have. I will email the surgery and see what they respond back with.
I had sedation but honestly I felt well enough afterwards. It was light sedation. I was awake and aware throughout the procedure and responded to their verbal questions throughout. I remember chatting and watching the screens. I became more aware the very minute the scope was withdrawn. I was up out of the bed and getting dressed within 5 minutes of my bed being wheeled back onto the ward. I felt well enough. I did feel slightly drunk for the rest of the day but I was well and aware of my surroundings.

I think the sedation is the answer.

Even though you felt fine and were chatting, they still would have told you nothing. Or possible they did tell you something on screen and you have forgotten and really don't remember - sedation is like that unfortunately.

Without it they would have given you a 2 minute explainer there and then.

If anything had needed treated immediately they would have done so, so unfortunately you are now just in the pile of letters waiting to be processed eventually...

I am just after reading the back of the discharge paper from the hospital and there's a follow up plan list and in it, it says

• return to your G.P. There's a list with tick the boxes and the rest of them don't apply to me.

So, does this indicate that the ball is in my court to make an appointment with my G.P?All along I was waiting for them to contact me. Should I hold off now at this stage and wait for the biopsy results to come back and hope they are in next week? Or will I go make an appointment? Or should I wait for the GP to phone me?

I actually haven't a clue what to do.

I think you should contact your GP and say you want to discuss the colonoscopy, it may be beneficial to wait for the biopsy results before you book so all the information is in one place.
With a colonoscopy showing diverticular disease I would not book a patient in routinely , GPs get a lot of results in one day so it is possible they saw the result , coded it but haven’t booked in as they felt showed benign disease .

@FelicityBennett

I think you should contact your GP and say you want to discuss the colonoscopy, it may be beneficial to wait for the biopsy results before you book so all the information is in one place. With a colonoscopy showing diverticular disease I would not book a patient in routinely , GPs get a lot of results in one day so it is possible they saw the result , coded it but haven’t booked in as they felt showed benign disease .

Thank you for your reply and for all the messages to this thread. I know it's probably mad but I was somewhat anxious. I am going to phone after 4 for an appointment to discuss the results. I was never sick before or needed a hospital referral so this is all new to me.

Just ring your GP.
They'll be happy to discuss your results if they have them. And they'll tell you the next steps.

@Milliways

They may have emailed the report to the GP or put it in the mail. Private letters tend to arrive later than the NHS ones at our surgery.

The letter would then be scanned onto your records and sent to your GP, who may not have admin time to read them every day. Some surgeries send them via a coding team to add the correct diagnosis to your notes before forwarding to the GP.

GP may well then get a secretary to send you a letter, or ask someone to call you to book an appointment. Many surgeries have lots of staff off at the moment due to sickness/family sickness.

If your surgery has a contact the practice facility on their website I would use that to ask if results received yet. Otherwise, do you have access to your online records to see if a new letter has been received or new diagnosis added there, if so you should chase as they have obviously received something.
Good luck!

I was anxious on the 4th of February but it was far too early. I put it to the back of my mind for another week. I was thinking maybe I might have got a call last week from the GPs but that didn't happen.

I emailed last week towards the end to see if the results are back yet but I got no response.

The discharge sheet from the hospital over 2 weeks ago said -

• endoscopy report will be forwarded to the GP in 2 to 3 working days.
• biopsies may take up to 2 weeks.

I would presume there would be something back from the hospital now at this stage.

I have no idea where I am now from the findings of the colonoscopy. I want to know the severity of the diverticulosis especially considering that was probably flaring last summer.

There has been no communication from the hospital or from the GP since the scope. All I got was a piece of paper from a nurse on the endoscopy ward.

@Milliways

They may have emailed the report to the GP or put it in the mail. Private letters tend to arrive later than the NHS ones at our surgery.

The letter would then be scanned onto your records and sent to your GP, who may not have admin time to read them every day. Some surgeries send them via a coding team to add the correct diagnosis to your notes before forwarding to the GP.

GP may well then get a secretary to send you a letter, or ask someone to call you to book an appointment. Many surgeries have lots of staff off at the moment due to sickness/family sickness.

If your surgery has a contact the practice facility on their website I would use that to ask if results received yet. Otherwise, do you have access to your online records to see if a new letter has been received or new diagnosis added there, if so you should chase as they have obviously received something.
Good luck!

GP may well then get a secretary to send you a letter, or ask someone to call you to book an appointment.

Does this always happen? Does someone from the practice get in touch requesting for an appointment to be made?

There's been no contact from the GP surgery at all. I don't have an online account to log into to view the results. There's no option for an online account at the GP practice and also from the hospital. I'm not in the UK.

There's been no communication from the GP office. I emailed last week requesting for the results but there was no reply back to that email.

I'm anxious now because I want to be filled in on the condition that was listed on the discharge paper but there's been no communication from the practice.

@Floralnomad

If you only had it done last week then it’s likely that the GP won’t have received the report yet

Are endoscopy reports get delayed because of biopsy results? The procedure was done 3 weeks ago and there was no follow up from anyone in the weeks that went by. The consultant who carried out the procedure never spoke to me afterwards. I was allowed home with a piece of paper with discharge instructions and what to look for in the next 24 hours and a vague list of what was observed on the colonoscopy.

There's been no communication since then. I emailed my gp practice last week but there was no response.

@RainbowZebraWarrior

It does sound like it has hit you now.

I'd try and gather some thoughts together and email a request for a chat.

I'm so sorry there was nobody there to talk to you about your diagnosis at the time.

That's all the information I got three weeks ago after the procedure. There's been nothing else since then.

My GP is usually good at emailing me results from blood tests and the 24 hour blood pressure monitor so I don't understand why she's withholding the results from the colonoscopy.

I want to know the extent of the diverticulosis that was found especially considering it's likely that ead the cuase of my issues/illness last year. It was likely that that was flaring.

The hospital will send a report to gp with their findings and may copy you in. Any follow up, referral and further information will be initiated by gp. The findings you had on the day were preliminary and results of biopsies often take a few weeks.