Looking well

Today, I spent time with my godparents and their family. The last time I saw some of them, I was just coming round from major surgery, so I had to look better today than I did then! However, everyone told me how well I'm looking compared to before surgery and treatment (I hadn't realised I looked so bad), and I must admit that it's good to know that the difference is so obvious.

We had a happy time discussing communication within hospitals. A few of us at the gathering have had recent experience of staying in or visiting hospitals. Despite our different reasons for contact with the medical services, our experiences concerning communication with medical personnel were remarkably similar. We came to the conclusion that everyone is doing their jobs to the best of their ability but that the job takes precedence over the patient's needs rather more often than should be the case.

It seems that my findings concerning communication in the medical profession are repeated over and over again, regardless of your reason for visiting a hospital or treatment centre. Each member of the team treats the part of the patient they are supposed to deal with; it is very rare to find someone who takes a holistic approach. In fact, from talking to others, on the whole, it seems that surgeons, despite their reputation for being poor communicators, are the most likely to consider the impact of surgery and treatment on the whole person... I'm not sure what that says for the medical profession.

It seems to me that unless you're prepared to ask questions, to object if you're not treated as a person rather than a thing, to correct medical personnel if their notes are wrong, or if they make assumptions based on a partial reading of your case notes, you may find that you don't have control over your own destiny. Although you may be branded "the patient from hell" if you do all those things, at least you'll know what's going on and avoid erroneous treatments...