Everyone can hear you!

Whatever happened to patient confidentiality. I was recently on my neuro placement and was shocked at the amount of times that I heard personal health details being discussed in an inappropriate setting.

I refer to one situation where a patient was in a four bed room and suffering from haemorrhoids. A doctor went in to review the patient, drew the curtain and started the examination with “so *Frank, how are the haemorrhoids feeling?” with an unnecessary loud volume. I know that often a shared public hospital room is a difficult environment to maintain patient confidentiality but if I was the one with haemorrhoids and my doctor had just announced this fact to the entire room (patients and visitors) I would NOT be impressed.

Of course, as a student, I didn’t feel like it was my place to say anything to the doctor but it really made me realise how important it is to use appropriate communication strategies when discussing what may be embarrassing issues.

I also tried to think about it from another point of view. Often people find it difficult to discuss these types of issues with medical staff as they may carry a certain stigma. Do you think that making it obvious/ discussing freely in this environment would “normalise” the situation and encourage people to think of these conditions as just another impairment, making them more comfortable to discuss them with health professionals?

I don’t think I’ll be changing my view on this situation as I still stand by the fact that what is private to you should be kept private…but what do you think?