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February 1st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda - Staff at NHS Trust rebuked for breaking bad news to patients over the phone
- One man said his wife had been told to pass on the message when a doctor called at his home
By
Katherine Faulkner and Rebecca Evans
Last updated at 8:20 AM on 1st February 2012
They are the words everyone dreads hearing from their doctor … and the fact they are delivered over the phone can only compound the trauma.
Yet last night it emerged that many patients are being told they have cancer in a phone call rather than a face-to-face meeting.
It seems that the traditional practice of a doctor breaking the news in person is becoming a thing of the past.
Queen’s Hospital, part of the Burton Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust. Staff have been reminded that telling a patient they have cancer on the phone is ‘inappropriate’
Stephen Coupe, founder of Cancer
Relief UK, said the development was outrageous. ‘It is a scandal that so
many cancer patients are being given their diagnosis in this way,’ he
added. ‘We have had many calls from families who are upset about this.’
Yesterday, staff at one NHS trust were officially rebuked for telling patients they had cancer over the phone.
Jim Morrison, chairman of Burton
Hospitals in Staffordshire, told the trust’s directors he had been
shocked such a warning was needed.
But on internet support forums, dozens of cancer patients said the same thing had happened to them.
The phone call incident was the subject of one of 82 complaints made to the trust between October and December 2011 (posed)
One man said he had complained after his wife was given the news in this way.
‘She was on her own in the house – no
one else with her,’ he wrote on the Macmillan Cancer Support forum. ‘It
just beggars belief – do they not do this in training to be a doctor,
how to break bad news to patients?’
Dozens of patients then replied to his
message, saying they had had the same experience. They said being given
the news by phone was ‘pitiful’.
Incredibly, one man said his wife had been told to pass him the message that he had cancer by a doctor who called them at home.
Another woman spoke of the agony of
being at home with her two-year-old daughter when she was told that she
had an aggressive form of skin cancer.
‘When she went off the phone, I just
broke down in tears,’ she wrote. ‘I had to phone my dad to come and get
my daughter.’ A second woman said being told of her cancer over the
phone was the worst moment of her whole life.
‘She added: ‘I spent four hours crying alone until my husband came home.’
Many said telling patients they had
cancer over the phone was insensitive and should be banned. ‘It’s not
like you are phoning to see if you’ve passed your GCSEs,’ one said.
‘I wonder how someone who is mentally fragile, already depressed, vulnerable and alone would cope.’
One patient said he was shocked when a
doctor told him over the phone that ‘it would be a miracle if he didn’t
have cancer’. At this point, he said, they had not even received the
results of his biopsy.
One woman said she ‘always knew this
wouldn’t be an easy journey’ but said it had been made much more
difficult by the fact that no one had spoken to her face to face.
A spokesman for Macmillan said a
cancer diagnosis was the most devastating news that can be received from
a doctor and that the news should always be given face to face to
ensure the patient is properly supported.
Martin Ledwick, of Cancer Research UK,
said: ‘You cannot guarantee the patient will have friends and family
around them to help support them.’
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For more information about cancer and to speak to Cancer
Research UK’s cancer information nurses call freephone 0808 800 4040, or visit www.cancerhelp.org.uk
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You’re right DM! Telling them this over the phone is evil.
E-mail is much better.
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“I for one would rather be in the comfort of my own home, than in a doctors surgery!
– RAB, Leeds west Yorkshire”
You’d probably have to settle for a phone call, in that case, as GPs don’t seem very big on house calls these days.
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Let’s face it, there’s no ‘good’ way to receive news like this. Personally I’d prefer to know sooner, rather than later and if the quickest way is a phone call, then that’s fine by me.
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I for one would want to know as quickly as possible. I see no wrong, though I would request and expect confirmation in writing. For some patients this maybe insensitive, the doctors/staff would need to take individual cases into consideration.
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After a PSA test, I was referred and got a hospital appointment before the doctor had given me the results of the test. No big deal, an efficient hospital for once. I phoned the doc and was told of his concerns and so went for the appointment. Bad news should not be wrapped in candyfloss, knowing as soon as possible was my preference.
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I don’t think any results should ever be given over the phone – good or bad. Here when you go for tests they tell you that the Doctor will have the results in xx days, so you make an appointment with your Doctor as soon as is possible after that date. Then you have the choice to take someone with you or not in case of bad news. If it is bad news, and after the shock has worn off you can ask questions instead of calling to make another appointment to ask questions.
Would the people who are saying it’s ok for Doctors to give bad news over the phone mind if the Police rang them to say their loved one had died in an accident, or would they prefer to be told in person?
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Why is anyone surprised?
I once asked a close relative who is a NHS Consultant “how do medical staff percieve patients”?
Her answer was “just pieces of meat”.
Follow the money.
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I was in a café in 2007 when my mobile rang and was my dermatologist. He said “Hi, just ringing with the results of your tests”. (Just to note cancer was never mentioned – I had a blister that wasn’t clearing up). I was a bit shocked but figured all must be well since he’s ringing me. He then went on to tell me I had “Basal Cell Carcinoma”….. I said “Im sorry I have what?”. He replied with “Its a form of skin cancer and I’ll pass the details on to the doctor to perform the surgery – expect an appointment in the post”. Yes, thats how I was told. I was then standing out on the street in a busy town crying my eyes out on my own – possibly the worst thing that has ever happened me. Turned out that it wasn’t the “bad” type and just had to be removed but I didn’t know that at the time and was left to discover it for myself off Google!!!
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Thanks for this DM. I’m no doctory, but you’ve given me a very evil idea.
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They were lucky my Doc’ phoned me and said I had something a lot more benign. I walked into the to see the Surgeon who informed me I had Kidney cancer. From there though treatment has been superb with brilliant doctors and staff. A bit diconcerting though when the nurses recococnise you in the corridors when ggoing for visits..
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