Does it actually benefit the NHS when medics treat you like a number?

[MrsMerryHenry]

I'm sure there have been a thousand threads like this already, so I'll just add mine to the pile! I had an ultrasound this week - not pg, just a health check. The radiologist was nice enough; not cosy, just professionally friendly, which was fine. However, a few minutes after I lay down and had the scanning thingummibob on my tum, the door opened and a woman walked in unannounced, didn't even look at me or say anything, and sat down to start working at the computer.

Once she started tapping away it was clear that she was an assistant, but bearing in mind that all the doors in the examination rooms have a notice specifically saying you should knock and wait before entering out of respect for the patients (who might even have a probe up their fanjos - bit personal, no?), was it too much to expect her to do the same? Or to say 'hello, my name is x and I'm the radiologist's assistant'? Would it have inconvenienced her or restricted her ability to do her job?

It's not a huge deal, I'm not going to write a letter to the hospital, but I just find that approach irritating. Having had the benefit of both private and NHS care I don't see how it benefits the functioning of the NHS when patients are not treated thoughtfully.

Thanks for your forgiveness!

I'm not sure now that her title was radiologist; maybe radiographer - don't know the diff, myself. Like the life cycle obs story - what an amazing job!

I think it's really important for people to introduce themselves to each other, for medical reasons.

Once I was having an ante-natal check in a busy clinic, and we were all being treated like numbers. There were no manners at all.

Unfortunately our wee samples got mixed up, and I was told to go straight to hospital with suspected pre-eclampsia, and another lady was allowed to go home. I was very surprised because I have low bp and had had babies before with no problems, so I nosied around on the desk to check. I realised their mistake and pointed it out. They were embarrassed and grumpy about it, and then had to get the other lady back into the clinic to sort her out. Nobody said thankyou.

If I had not been so naturally nosy, she might have got really ill, while I would have been in hospital for no reason. So the moral of the story is probably that if people are treated as individuals, there is less scope for mixing them up and giving the wrong treatments.