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 scope being inserted into the womb, often without anaesthetic, leaving one in three in pain.
Dr Johannsson, consultant anaesthetist at Charing Cross Hospital in London, was taking part in gynae-cologist Dr 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 like a lot of this is poor care and badly handled, and emotionally badly handled, and (they) didn’t stop when they were supposed to.
“Stories of being held down to finish the procedure are just awful. It’s important 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.”
Campaigner May Hooper, 71, from Glasgow, underwent an “agonising” hysteroscopy at Stobhill Hospital last July which left her with post-traumatic stress.
The Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy (CAPH) predicts it will be the next big medical scandal.
CAPH is 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?”
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