I realise that it’s been raised before, but as it has hit the news again, I guess those of us who object to the constant interfering in our lifestyles must, once more, wearily take to the breach.
Yup, even if we go to see our GP for an ingrowing toenail, we should be asked about smoking, drinking and dietary habits.
Patients should be asked about their diet, smoking and drinking habits every time they see a health professional according to radical proposals from the government’s NHS advisers to tackle soaring rates of obesity, cancer and alcohol misuse.
The NHS Future Forum wants health staff to routinely talk to patients about their lifestyles, even when they are suffering an unrelated illness, and offer them advice and help to become healthier.
I appreciate that there is an argument for holistic healthcare, but this isn’t about that, is it? This is the NuPuritans poking about where they don’t need to be going (and let’s not forget that those “soaring” rates of alcohol misuse actually mean a decline in consumption – ahem). If we are going to get into holistic medicine, then the NHS professionals could learn a thing or two from the chiropractor who accurately diagnosed a knee problem that was missed by my GP. The reason the chiropractor picked it up was because he was looking at the whole body, not just the knee. The NHS is a long way from holistic healthcare – on the whole, a prescription and on your way seems to be the order of the day – at least, it is in my experience.
But on Friday some medical leaders voiced fears that such interventions might stop some patients from seeking medical help in case they were asked questions they found uncomfortable, and the Patients Association said it was “overkill”.
Ya don’t say? Of course it is overkill. In my case, I’m likely to respond with “not relevant” should I be asked.
I am reminded of a comment made on Mummy Longlegs’ blog (now defunct) about a patient who was in for cervical screening and when asked whether she smoked, replied “not through my fanny”.
Maybe irreverent humour is the right approach, who knows? It’s that or break down in despair.
[Steve] Field acknowledged the controversial nature of the plan, which has been drawn up by forum members Ash Soni, a pharmacist, and Vicky Bailey, of the clinical commissioning group in Rushcliffe in Nottingham. “This is not the ‘nanny state’ at all,” said Field.
It’s funny how the nanny statists always say that when they propose yet another intrusion into our lives. Y’see, Steve Field, nanny state is precisely what it is.
>I am reminded of a comment made on Mummy Longlegs’ blog (now defunct) about a patient who was in for cervical screening and when asked whether she smoked, replied “not through my fanny”.
Was the patient Thai? That could have a bearing. 😛
I get this from my physicians on my mercifully rare visits.
Quack: “How many do you smoke at the moment?”
Me: “Forty” (exaggeration)
GP: “That’s far too many”
Me: “Okay, twenty then”
“Was the patient Thai? That could have a bearing.”
Damn, beat me to it! 😀
Sorry to pour cold water on any burgeoning fantasies, but if I recall correctly, the patient was one of Mummy’s acquaintances. One with a wicked mouth, obviously…
“Patients should be asked about their diet, smoking and drinking habits every time they see a health professional”
We already are! I’m off work with a damaged knee due to a fall(hamstring tear, dislocated knee [subluxated proximal tibiofibular joint] and developed nerve damage [RSD]). I go to my GP for assessment and referral to a specialist – what is the most important facts he ascertained? Yep, that I smoke. Neither he nor the specialist are, even now, slightly aware of the conditions I’m suffering from or the correct treatment (as a nurse I have to tell them what I need doing) so I spend more time being bombarded with smoking cessation and dietary advice than any actual treatment.
I slipped and fell you incompetent busybodies! WTF does whether I smoke or eat a burger have to do with my furking dislocated knee???????
What this really has to do with anything is that it offers yet another way they can ration care ‘You smoke? Well bugger off and get your knee fixed somewhere else then’. Think I’m joking? If you smoke you will be refused knee surgery despite the fact that both demand from and recovery rates for smokers is better than for non-smokers (I waited nine months to see a specialist, and only saw him then by saying I had quit smoking, a lie).
Welcome to the NHS!!!
This lot are even suggesting that the pharmacist interrogate us as well…
In recent months I’ve had to consult medics and not one has questioned my tobacco or alcohol habits, although one started to give me a lecture about fibre until I stopped him in his tracks with contrary evidence.
My own GP is young and enthusiastic. When I asked her why she wasn’t questioning my habits, she said there was little point. She then explained she enjoyed a drink or ten when she was on holiday and she would be tick-boxed as a binge drinker for that reason, so why mention it. Better to say she was a very light drinker. So she asked my drinking habits. “Very light drinker,” I replied. We both roared with laughter. It’s good to have an honest GP who explains the pitfalls of their assessment processes.
As for my pharmacist interrogating me – I doubt if he would appreciate his shop emptying at speed. 🙂
I have the good fortune to have a somewhat curmudgeonly and not-young Scottish GP. He never asks about drinking and smoking habits of any of his patients, but he once visited my house whereupon a bottle of Isle of Jura was soundly abused and a quantity of Nicotiana tabacum was burned!
He has since re-visited on a number of occasions and with similar consequences.
Nurse at my GP’s practice is built on the “extremely generous” side. She proceeded to lecture me on my being overweight, and told me that I would die if I didn’t lose weight. I told her that we would all die and that I felt I stood a better chance of attending her funeral rather than the other way round.
Since then she is charm personified, oh and we have both lost weight, I have lost more.
On reflection I haven’t seen her for a while, hope she is OK…….
The trouble with responding to nosey medicos with irony or dry humour is that such responses almost certainly contravene the ubiquitous surgery notice informing us that the staff are entitled to work without being insulted or offended.
That the patient may feel insulted, offended (or patronised, or get crap service) appears not to matter.
XX such interventions might stop some patients from seeking medical help in case they were asked questions they found uncomfortable,XX
When did Brits loose the ability to tell the bastards to go fuck themselves with their interogations?
Simple: “Nothing to fucking do with you arsehole, now fix my knee (or whatever)”.
Why not doctors decide for themselves whether it is appropriate to ask the patient about their eating and drinking habits?
As in, relevant to the problem being diagnosed? Far too simple. And it doesn’t fit with the temperance agenda.