Disclosure of pateint confidentiality

foreign_correspondent

Tinks32 wrote: »

Unfortunately I was blissfully unaware until I opened the letter!

I felt very let down for her, she has now made her decision and I will be supporting her.

On a brighter note I found bpas extremely helpful to my daughter, her boyfriend and me. I think the NHS are wonderful and we are very lucky to have them, but can you imagine the harm that could have been done say if maybe she had a strict Muslim family?

you should raise it with the hospital, probably via pals... as you said if her family were not so understanding, this could have caused a huge family rift, and perhaps even put her in danger...

Whilst I do not want to pre-judge the reaction of a family based on religion, it can be an issue if parents would be likely to be very angry at a teenager falling pregnant.

There are all sorts of reasons why young people may want to keep these things secret - sometimes it is a misplaced fear of parental dissapointment, sometimes it's a very real and rational concern about their parent's likely reactions, which are not always reasonable ot kind.

dizziblonde

Saturnalia wrote: »

I've needed medical treatment or prescription drugs where the doctor has asked "is there any chance you could be pregnant?" and doctors have always taken my word for it when I have said there's no way I could be. I've never been made to take a test to confirm it.

I'm amazed doctors don't take people's word for it, or is this only when the patient is a teenage girl? Any adult women been disbelieved in this situation?

Docs took my word for it pre-something or other when I was a teenager. I only remember the question being asked cos my mum had joked on before that she'd be paying VERY careful attention to how I answered it!

elisamoose

Just to say it should be the daughter who complains...it is her confidentiality which has been broken.

And as 52 year old with a vasectomies hubby , I had to have a pregnancy test before surgery.Hospital policy for all females of possible child bearing age. ( nurse said 12-60 !)

securityguy

Torry_Quine wrote: »

It should be standard before surgery that a pregnancy test is done on any woman of child-bearing age.

And if they refuse? It's odd the way that unlike most of the rest of medical ethics, women's genitals appear to be everyone's business. But then, adult women are so dishonest and stupid, they can get pregnant without even knowing they've had sex. It's a good thing that big strong doctors are there to help them.

Torry_Quine

securityguy wrote: »

And if they refuse? It's odd the way that unlike most of the rest of medical ethics, women's genitals appear to be everyone's business. But then, adult women are so dishonest and stupid, they can get pregnant without even knowing they've had sex. It's a good thing that big strong doctors are there to help them.

Don't shoot the messenger!

The test is usually done as a routine along with other urine tests and women don't always know that they are pregnant.

Cooper18

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Don't shoot the messenger!

The test is usually done as a routine along with other urine tests and women don't always know that they are pregnant.

Yep, true. Taking the patients word for it isn't enough for a lot of procedures, and some need pregnancy tests before the procedures can go ahead. Sometimes the requirement is lower so it IS enough for the patient to sign they are confident they aren't pregnant. With others you MUST be tested. What's the big deal? We routinely test for certain procedures, for all female patients aged 12 to 55 inc. I can see that range moving to 10-60 in the near future.

marywooyeah

OP your daughter should definetly complain, its just lucky for her that you're supporting her in having a baby but some parents would not have done so and the consequences of their breach could have been catastrophic. Congratulations on finding out you're becoming a grandmother and I hope all is well until the baby arrives! xx

Cooper18

securityguy wrote: »

And if they refuse? It's odd the way that unlike most of the rest of medical ethics, women's genitals appear to be everyone's business. But then, adult women are so dishonest and stupid, they can get pregnant without even knowing they've had sex. It's a good thing that big strong doctors are there to help them.

Refusal of pregnancy testing would rule you out of certain procedures in my department. Absolutely your choice, no one would force or coerce you, but we couldn't go ahead (legally) without a negative test. And it has to be a blood test, not a urine one, in my department.

Cooper18

marywooyeah wrote: »

OP your daughter should definetly complain, its just lucky for her that you're supporting her in having a baby but some parents would not have done so and the consequences of their breach could have been catastrophic. Congratulations on finding out you're becoming a grandmother and I hope all is well until the baby arrives! xx

I second this. She should complain. She doesn't have to be nasty about it (unless she wants to be:rotfl:) but could simply request that the department review their procedures surrounding patient confidentiality, and give her reassurance how such a situation could be avoided in the future. A competent 13 year old can consent themselves for surgery without the parents being involved, so a 16 year old should not be having letters like this sent to their parents.

miss_independent

FWIW I do think that before a surgical procedure, a pregnancy test SHOULD be done as a matter of routine.

However, in my case - as Security Guy was pointing out, it was a CT scan. Of what turned out to be a polyp on my sinus! It wasn't even a gynae issue. And the main problem was the attitude of the member of staff and the fact it wasn't raised or dealt with sensitively or privately.