Doctors - Test Results

Doctors To Give Test Results At Inappropriate Times Via Inappropriate People, says Chief Medical Officer.

There was a time when you popped along to your GP and he broke the news about the results of tests you had undertaken, but that's all set to change.

Doctors will now reveal the results of your tests when it's highly inappropriate. A pilot scheme has already been using the new system with positive results. A few patients have praised the scheme although one has since died.

"It's a simple premise. You just leave a contact number of a close relative/friend who knows about your movements in the weeks after the test and then we take care of the rest," said a GMC spokesman.

Barbara White, 52, shop assistant, was one of the first to take part.
"The doctor told me that I would receive the test results sometime within a month," said Barbara White, 52. I'd been feeling quite rough. He told me it was probably very serious, but not to worry as he had been wrong once, many years ago. I went on holiday as planned and ordered a drink at poolside and the waiter gave me a rum and coke and informed me that I had leukaemia and that I should return home immediately. It took a while to understand what he was trying to say, but we got there in the end. I really appreciated the timing. I was only two days into my holiday and although the doctor could have told me before I went, he felt, at the time, that it would be better to wait until it was fairly awkward and inappropriate."

Tim Jenson, 22, philosophy student, had a similar experience. "I was part way through my driving test when the instructor told me that the mole on my back was benign. I slammed on the breaks and broke down in tears. I failed the test because I had done an unscheduled emergency stop and I had hugged the examiner also."

"It was great breaking the news," said Driving Examiner, Ted Walters. "He was really delighted and it made failing him very easy indeed. We have quotas and I needed one more fail to keep up the percentage. I've got a real stinker next week though. Woman in her 30s. Bad news I'm afraid. That's the joy of this job, you don't know what will happen next."

The GMC added: "A lot of people like to make a drama out their illnesses. Stories get dressed up and commonly unused adjectives get bandied about. We felt that the visit to the surgery and having the doctor fake sincerity was really not contributing to the overall effect. People want 'shock and gore' in a time when they are competing to have the most dramatic health problem on the planet.
"One woman was given the all-clear and asked for a second opinion and said if she couldn't find a doctor in this country who would say she was seriously ill then she would look abroad. She was livid, but sadly, she was in perfect health.
"Doctors will be rewarded financially for more elaborate and creative ways of breaking the news. I can't name names, but some people in the public eye are in for a real treat. One has happened already."