"Real inconvenience caused by a lack of information ahead of a gynaecological procedure"

I had an appointment at the Gynaecology Outpatients clinic in January with a doctor. I had received a phone call to make the appointment, so did not receive anything in writing. I had been told by my GP that I had been referred to Stobhill for a Colposcopy, which I have had before, and that's what I assumed my appointment was for. When I arrived and was taken in to see the consultant, I eventually realised from what the consultant was saying that I was there for an investigation for another problem I was having (Fibroids), although I had been told by my GP that that appointment would be at the Western Infirmary.

The consultant then told me that they would be doing a biopsy which would probably be quite painful at the time. However, nothing was said about how this might affect me afterwards. After the examination and biopsy, a nurse then whispered to me that some women had some cramping and bleeding afterwards, and that I might want to take a couple of paracetomol, and that there were some sanitary pads in the changing room. In actual fact I was cramping and bleeding for two days after the appointment, which caused me real problems as I was due to take an examination for a professional qualification I am studying for the following day.

The point of my story is that if a consultant is going to perform a procedure which MIGHT cause problems for the patient afterwards, they should be telling people about this IN ADVANCE of doing it, so that the patient can make the decision as to whether it is a convenient time in their life or not. In this case, I would have asked for an appointment to be made for this procedure at another time. I quite understand that the pain and discomfort/bleeding afterwards might be inevitable for some people, and am prepared to put up with this for the sake of having things checked out, but I really think it is unacceptable to do this to someone without letting them know the possible consequences in advance.