Agonising and badly handled.. this is just poor care by doctors
Medic’s warning over test
A leading consultant has warned that poor care is at the root of a growing outcry over an invasive medical test that has left women in agony.
Dr Helgi Johannsson, vice-president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, has spoken out about the hysteroscopy after the Sunday Mail revealed the suffering of a series of female patients.
His intervention comes amid a growing backlash around the procedure used to investigate and treat problems in the womb, with more than 3000 women now reporting being left with post-traumatic stress and excruciating pain.
The test involves a long g scope being g inserted into the womb, often without anaesthetic, leaving one in three in pain.
Dr Johannsson, consultant anaestheetist at Charing ng C ross Hospital in London, was taking part in gynaecologist Dr r
Gail Busby’s I Forgot To Ask The Doctor podcast, which examined the controversy around outpatient hysteroscopy (OH) procedures. He said: “First of all, I just want to say how sorry I am to the women... It sounds like they have had the most awful experiences. This is where we have to separate poor care from policy.
“It sounds l iikek a lot of this is poor po care and an badly handled, han and emotionally em badlyhandled, bad and ( they) didn’t did stop when whe theywere supposedpp sup to. “StorStt ies of being bei held down to f iinishn the pprocr edu re are just awful. It’s iimportant that we make the OH as good as we can possibly make it, including some sort of inhalation sedation, but having the ability to say stop when you need to is so important and a measure of good care.”
Campaign er May Hooper, 71, from Glasgow, underwent an “agonising” hysteroscopy at Stobhill Hospital last July which left her with post- traumatic stress.
The Campaign Against PainfulHy st eros copy( CA PH) predicts it will be the next big medical scandal.
CAP His calling for fundamental changes to improve outcomes for those undergoing the test and to ensure they are able to “give informed consent”.
Spokeswoman Katharine Tylko said: “There is huge scientific research that mentions specific cohorts of patients at high risk of severe pain. Why isn’t the NHS routinely doing a pre-op assessment?”