AIBU to expect a gown and privacy during an early mammogram?

[Cranberry2020]

Today I attended for my first mammogram under the screening age due to family history.
i was called and the radiographer didn’t introduce herself. Inside the room she just asked me to undress to waist and started asking me questions. I wasn’t offered a gown etc and I got down to bra and felt cold. I requested a gown for dignity and she said they don’t have them here. That’s the machine is only over there. I felt uncomfortable and tried to ask again. She denied one. She then said she needed to get someone else in and went and got the receptionist who was an older lady. The radiographer then gaslit me by telling the receptionist how unreasonable I was asking for a gown etc. that the receptionist had to hear two sides but then didn’t let me speak. I was still in my bra and now the door to the corridor was open. The receptionist told me if I’d wanted a gown I should have mentioned it earlier. I left the wrong way and came back and heard they were still talking about me negatively. I then found a nurse and explained by now generally upset. The consultant appeared and said that it’s down to perceived communication which I couldn’t accept completely as I really asked nicely for a gown and explained why. She also said that if I left now I’d have to ‘wait a long time for another one’. I’ve been left reeling. I have other long term conditions and do have some medical PTSD. I’ve had lots of healthcare interactions including a recent internal gynae scan yet I felt fully cared for and treated with dignity and respect. AIBU? Thanks

I've always been freezing when having them done and I'm rarely cold.

I think the radiographer stays in the room getting equipment ready etc..maybe looking to see if she's going to have to scan big or small breasts. Whether the patient is infirm or wobbly. Will need extra help or not.
My experience is you go in the room, strip to the waist and then the radiographer comes over to put you in twister positions on the machine. I'm unclear if the 'receptionist' was brought in as a chaperone? What happened though sounds normal. Holding your bra during the procedure wouldn't be practical. Leaving people alone in the room might cause other problems...it's a quick and ready process...not meant to be a consultation but a test. Which means less comforting interaction...but thats normal.
I bet the cost of providing gowns would stuns us all. I'm not sure why and I have F cups if you are shy you couldn't cover yourself with your arms?

The receptionist was invited in to act as the chaperone you didn’t ask for one but the radiographer could see you were stressed out and she invited the chaperone in. Why do you see that’s being part of the problem? I don’t understand. I mean each one of these takes about 56 minutes imagine doing them all day and imagine the laundry cost of gowns. They’re not needed. Bring a loose over shirt if you think that’ll help.

No.

You CAN make it better. You can have the basic courtesy to introduce yourself to the patient.

You can leave the patient to undress alone with her dignity.

If a gown is unsuitable, this should be explained and an alternative (even a long piece of sheet roll) offered if helpful.

You can do your damn job and LISTEN to your patient.

And don't come at me with "there's no time for that". Absolute rubbish. If you can't do that, I believe Tesco is hiring.

OP, complaining can be overwhelming, so do what is right for you. PALS do tend to mark their own homework ime.

And shame on all posters who belittled and minimised OPs experience.

I must say I freaked a bit and a gown might have helped. DH is the only person to have seen me topless, and in the last year I’ve lost weight and my boobs have gone south big time. I didn’t know what to do with myself and got flustered, probably all took much longer because of it. If I could have been covered until I was at the machine it may have helped

I have had loads. Usually you undress in the X-ray room or you are given a gown to and from them changing area. Your request should have been respected. Sounds like someone doing the job was unsuitable. I’ve worked in hospitals. There were never enough gowns when I worked there or sheets. That was 20 years ago. You’d have to go begging other wards for them.

This is horrible and frankly disgusting that as women we are degraded and made to feel as if this is normal. The NHS has a lot to learn about basic care and dignity.

I go private for mammograms. I am given a warm gown to change into that opens in the front, the radiologists always introduces herself, makes small talk with me. As we move from each breast she helps me cover the other side so I am never fully exposed.

I also see the doctor right away who analyses the images and lets me know that everything is good and lets me ask any questions.

I am sorry your care was so poor. You deserve better.

This. We are so use to poor healthcare in the UK that we excuse the lack of basic manners and respect.

It is not okay and it needs to change.

I’ve had a few mammograms the last one was a mobile unit and you basically stripped in the corner of the scanning room whilst she asked questions and then got on with it . They wouldn’t have had a gown if you’d wanted one as they don’t need them , it would just be an unnecessary expense laundering them . They shouldn’t have been talking about you but at the end of the day they have a schedule and you were holding them up so I can see why they were a bit peeved .

Mine was in a mobile unit - routine 3 yearly screening.

No gown - I had to take my bra off (in a changing cubicle) and put my jumper back on while I waited in the waiting area to go into the x-ray area. Once I was in the x-ray area, I took my jumper off, was screened, and put it back on when I'd finished, then back to the changing room to get fully dressed again.

I was impressed that they were running to time and it was nice and warm inside though there was frost on the ground,

I wasn't offered a chaperone but didn't feel the need as the mammographer was female.

Lack of gown didn't bother me, but I was only naked (from waist up) for a very short time and the door was fully closed throughout.

Given Men,who are deluded enough to demand to be treated as Women, want to be allowed to conduct Mammograms, I think the whole question of our dignity is VERY important.

It's bad enough being treated like the OP, by natal born Women.

Imagine if one of them was actually a Man, claiming to be a "Trans Woman"?

The NHS loves letting such Men have access to Women's single sex spaces!

Sorry OP I think you are being unreasonable. A gown is just going to get in the way. It isn’t a nice procedure and they need to squish your breasts so you can’t have a gown on. I have had many mammograms and never felt my dignity was at risk with professionals doing their job in the way you have described.

Smears, child birth, mammograms, internal exams, colonoscopy etc don’t leave you either a lot of dignity but that is the procedure not the gown or lack thereof.

Is your medical PTSD medically diagnosed as surely it would be in your records?

Don't let anyone tell you you were being precious. I would complain, the staff sound unprofessional.

It sounds like you were triggered and responding in a way that wasn't about the actual situation but more about your own anxiety. It is perfectly normal to strip to the waist, walk to the machine, radiographer asks a few questions then you have the mammogram, get dressed and leave. Each appointment is about 5-6 minutes. There isn't time for faffing about. When you started complaining I imagine the radiographer felt it necessary to bring in the receptionist as a chaperone for her own protection against a complaint by you.

That's absolute rubbish and I can confidently confirm that there is ALWAYS time to introduce yourself and briefly run through what to expect. It doesn't mean stopping and having a sit down chat over tea, it's about establishing and maintaining communication, on the go if need be.

"Hi, my name is NotanNHSnurseanymore, I'm going to be with you during X".

I've done that in emergencies, let alone a planned procedure.

OP, your feelings are valid. You are right to expect better care. You should have received it.

Quite. Faffing about would delay things for the next person and where I go appointments run strictly to time. I don't know when women became so prudish and easily triggered. I'm of an age now when I am no longer called in for a mammogram but I will be making my own appointment. I know a few people who have had early diagnosis of breast cancer this way and I'm not going to miss it.

prudish

The OP says clearly that what upset her was being watched while she took her clothes off. That’s not prudish. It’s a normal reaction in a relatively rare situation for the patient.

And HCPs not introducing themselves is still very common in the NHS, I’ve found, as well as having their lanyards turned round so they’re not visible.

I feel that the NHS treats women abysmally badly, we are just treated like non humans. Mammograms and smear tests are horrible, humiliating, uncomfortable, often painful, undignified, only made bearable by nice reassuring staff, unfortunately a rarity these days.

@Cranberry2020 idk if it’s different because I’m from the US but I’ve been having mammograms for many years and am given a gown every time. I suppose it’s more cost effective to ditch the gowns but some women are very private and I can see why they prefer to be covered. I’m with you.

One of the issues compared to private treatment is that appointments for mammograms will be strict deadlines for NHS, so no time for comfy gowns to be placed correctly. Doesn’t stop staff from introducing themselves though

More medical misogyny - at play and even worse perpetrated by women on other women.

Makes my blood boil. I can remember a similar yet different scenario when labouring with my first. I was naked from the waist down and they kept leaving the room door open. It was humiliating having other labouring women, their families, porters, admin staff just walking by. It was 25 years ago but I can remember feeling really vulnerable.

For future mammograms - I would take a light Terry robe and wear that if you have to use the same facility and put a complaint in writing.

I'm really sorry that they made you feel this bad and put you in this position. I think maybe because they it’s a regular thing for them they can forget how it feels I think bringing the receptionist in has a badly handled way of getting you a chaperone

i went for my first last year in a car park and was really unsure of what was going on. When I told them it was my first they did spend(short) time explaining what would happen. I,m sorry they didn’t do this with you

Most of the mammograms I’ve had for the last eight years have been done at a large private hospital, and the way in which they've been carried out is exactly the same as my NHS ones at two other hospitals, ie no introduction by the radiographer, no gown, and. getting dressed/undressed next to her. The only difference is that the private hospital has a really snazzy mammogram machine with colour changing lights. I also have an ultrasound at the same time each year, which is always carried out by a male, with a female chaperone present, but I get undressed in front of him and leave my things on the chair next to his computer, just like for my mammogram, and have never given it a second thought. He’s lovely and friendly, but he’s never introduced himself or offered me a gown - the nurse puts a bit of paper over my tummy so that I can wipe the gel off afterwards, but that’s all. Mammograms and ultrasound scans are uncomfortable and not exactly how I would choose to spend a Saturday morning, but I really don’t feel that any part of my experience each year is undignified or degrading.

I've never had a mammogram, I'm quite shocked at how unkind the staff were to you.
So sorry you had to go through this.

I’ve never been asked to get undressed in front of someone. I’ve either been taken to a changing room prior and given the gown and then walked to the exam room or left in the exam room to change into a gown. I also get ultrasounds every year and again, same protocol. I’ve never had a male do them and i was always given a gown to cover the breast not being scanned at that time.

This has been the same for breast MRI too. I’m given a gown, laid down on my front and the nurse helped to remove my gown. When it was over, I was brought a warm blanket and the nurse covered me as I got up from the MRI.

These exams are so important and little bits of respect and comfort should be given to encourage women to attend. Yes, they are uncomfortable but there are things that can be done to make the experience more comfortable and comforting.