The Government is on the verge of highlighting the names of doctors who miss diagnosing patients with cancer three times.
In an ideal situation some forms of cancer are incredibly difficult to diagnose, symtoms vary from patient to patient, symptoms are similar to other more common problems such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
The situation is not helped when a patient no longer has a relationship with their doctor, locums are used by hundreds of practices, surgeries are under pressure from all directions both financially and administratively, it is now common for patients to attend a surgey and see one of the doctors there rather than the same one each time, this means they could visit a surgery three times and see three different doctors. Normally appointment times are 8 – 10 minutes, in this time the patient has to go through their symtoms, previous visit details and medical history before the doctor even has a chance to make an informed diagnosis of their condition regardless of how trivial or critical it is.
As a patient how do you ensure that, whatever the situation regarding the surgery you attend or the doctor you see, you have the best chance of a correct diagnosis? You need to ensure that the doctor who is diagnosing you is FULLY AWARE of your medical history, what medications you take, what surgeries you have had, what doctors appointments you have had, what illnesses you have, what your lifestyle and family history is.
All these factors are important in ensuring a correct diagnosis. Some of this will be contained in your notes at the doctors but regardless of this it is common practice for patients to have to go through all this with the doctor or consultant at every visit.
A 999card contains all this information in an easily viewed summary sheet, able to be viewed on any pc without the need for specific software. Give a completed 999card to the doctor and he can scroll down your complete medical history in less than a minute, he can see the relevant information immediately without wasting any of the valuable appointment time. From this he has more time to ask further questions of the patient regarding their condition thereby increasing the liklihood of a correct diagnosis.
A 999card is an invaluable tool for anyone with a complicated medical history as well as anyone with a life threatening allery or condition. They are available for a simple one off cost and are kept updated by the card holder thereby ensuring their accuracy. They can be amended as often as required therefore ensuring that all the information is up to date.
For more information you can visit the website http://www.999card.co.uk or read our blog at https://999card.wordpress.com/
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