I have read the brief several times and correct me if I am wrong but this is a meeting of Laboratory staff, and or, people who work in the background, who supply information to Doctors who then supply that information to us.
When in a chain of information the question is always one of interpretation. We have all, I think, have heard of the Chinese Whisper; where it starts out as "get me some fish and chips" and ends up as XXXXXXXX by the time it has gone through ten people. We are, as Patients, at the end of the Chinese Whisper and it is how the Consultant interprets the information he is given that he gives to us.
Clearly, then what the Patient needs is the information that the Laboratory gave originally which the Consultant and the patient can then discuss and not the information he decides to pass on. So that brings me to my point. The information that the laboratory gives should have a copy for the patient.
I can hear the cries of two technical already in the far of distance! So the information should be clearly laid out and include for example Blood Test result – white Blood Cells; Norm i.e. normal healthy person, Patients result. any comments or directions. The patient can be given this prior to his consultation so that he can study it and formulate any questions PRIOR to the consultation. You will quickly learn which the relevant reading to observe is.
I agree with the three types of Patient and each will treat this information differently I know but one of the things I learnt in Business is that you ?cannot please everybody any of the time? (this is my correction on ?all of the time?). And, you just have to accept that at one end of the scale some Patients will see it as waste while at the other Patients will see it as a valuable tool.
Consultants will not like this I think for many reasons; first and foremost Knowledge is Power and by this action the patient would be given the Knowledge and therefore the power that information bestows is passed to him/her. Consultations would be longer – for the more inquisitive of us shall I say; at the moment I am in and out in a flash.
Finally one of the things I least like is that I do not see the same Consultant every time, I accept the reasons for this but it adds another variable into the information I receive i.e. not only an I at the end of the Chinese Whisper I have a different person relaying that information every time. By having a copy of the Lab report I would have consistent information each time regardless of who the Consultant is.
I rest my case Your Honour.
Thanks Dai for representing us, I hope this is of some help.
Kindest regards ? Vasbyte
David
P.S: I thought I better add a post script of how I see it working in relation to me.
Appointment 09:30. I normally book into the main receptionist at 09:20. When booking in the Receptionist finds my Hospital files and makes necessary notes and places my files in the Consultants case load. I then wait in the main reception area to be called through to the Consultants waiting area, normally about five/ten mins. I then wait in the Consultants area to be called through for my consultation by ?a? Consultant, normally another ten minutes.
I would expect that when I book in at the main receptionist she, when collecting my hospital files (which already contains the Laboratory report on my blood, would give me MY copy of the Laboratory report. I could then study it whilst waiting to go into the Consultation. A very simple procedure with little extra work.
