"Consultant - very poor manner"

This afternoon I visited the cardiology department to see a consultant.

I was pleased I was first on the list and there wasn’t a patient in front of me, yet I still had to wait the usual half hour without an apology from the consultant.

NHS patients are entitled to apologies just as much as private patients.

I happen to be frontline NHS, so I have a bit of knowledge on how appointment systems and consultations work.

Consultant had a dreadful bedside manner.

They were abrupt, rushing through the appointment at lightning speed, asking me to make an immediate decision about an angiogram (no room for thought) whether I wanted it in the vein or artery.

I explained I didn’t know as I was unsure what an angiogram was, and they very quickly explained it was having dye injected in your artery.

Then asked did I want vein or artery.

I couldn’t answer and they seemed frustrated with me.

I said I’m not medically trained so could you please make the decision.

“Right, artery angiogram then” and started to fill in paper work.

Gave me a form and a script and that was it.

I felt they couldn’t wait to get rid of me, did they think I was a “time waster”? it felt like it.

They never mentioned that I needed to hand in the paper to the receptionist on the way out, hence I took it home.

All in all, an unpleasant experience.