amandaslifelinepetition

Amandas story.

I was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and when I went to hospital to get my test results I suffered the most traumatic experience of my life.  On arrival at the hospital I was told to sit in a waiting area with similar patients and wait until I was called in to see my consultant.  During this wait I saw a number of people go in and then come out in floods of tears.  It was not pleasant and seeing so many other distressed people added to my anxiety as I waited for my results.  

When I received my results as soon as I heard the words 'cancer' and 'not curable' my head started to spin and I did not hear anything else that was said to me.  My partner was equally distressed  and then we both had to walk out through the waiting area with everyone seeing our distress all the way back to our car.

I was very upset and my partner was in floods of tears. He then had the task of driving us home a considerable distance up the motorway.  How he got us home safely I shall never know.

After I had had a little time to think about this I became very angry.  I believe that this method of telling patients that they have cancer, particularly when it is incurable, is inhumane.  I began to think about other options for delivering such devastating news.

My suggestion is as follows.

At the time that tests are being carried out the question could be asked " How would you like to receive your results?"

 Those results could easily be delivered to the patient by telephone at a pre-arranged time when the patient is in the comfort and safety of their own home. This could be done by the consultant or by the patient's GP according to choice and then the call would be followed up a few days later with an official written diagnosis and an appointment to see the consultant to discuss the future.

This method would give the patient time to get over the initial shock and be better able to absorb any information about possible future treatment.  My idea would not cost the NHS any extra money but would definitely make life much better for the patient at a very difficult time.

Naturally it would not suit everyone and some might still prefer to receive their diagnosis at the hospital, but if my idea is adopted it would give every patient the right to choose for themselves. That would avoid a lot of people going through the trauma that I had to experience.

If you agree about the right to choose please register the fact on this website. Please sign the petition and please share the link with friends through social media.  Let's raise awareness and see if we can get this right to choose introduced into the NHS.

Thank you.

Amanda