Care Opinion

MRI was unpleasant

Posted By Pedestrian432

"MRI was unpleasant"

About: Croydon University Hospital / Neurology South London And Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust / Older people's mental health

(as the patient),

Earlier this year I was set for an MRI scan at the Maudsley hospital as I had pseudo dementia.

I had always dreaded having an MRI scan, but they allowed you to take a CD to listen to. I took one of my grandson playing the piano, I enjoyed listening to it so much I was disappointed when the scan was over and the CD hadn’t finished.

My doctor transferred me to Croydon University hospital because of something they discovered near my throat, I had to have another MRI scan there. It was not really such an easy experience. They did not provide or allow CDs. With nothing to listen to the time went very slowly and it could be quite frightening at times.

There was not so much communication as there had been at the Maudsley. It left your imagination to run riot if you let it.

I think it would be much better if you were given the option of listening to music and if you were spoken to a bit more often and clearly.

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Responses

Response from Graham Richardson, Deputy Manager, PALS and Complaints, Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 9 years ago
Graham Richardson
Deputy Manager, PALS and Complaints,
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust

Submitted on 20/11/2015 at 09:22
Published on Care Opinion at 10:48

Dear Pedestrian432

I was sorry to learn that your experience of an MRI at Croydon University Hospital was not pleasant and am grateful to you for taking the time to let us know.

I have passed on your feedback to the manager of the MRI unit, which is managed by InHealth Ltd, who has explained that, unfortunately, our scanners do not have the option to allow patients to listen to music.

The radiographers are normally very good at communicating with patients throughout the scan. The unit has an open scanner, but we see many patients every day, some of which feel claustrophobic and require the communication to keep calm, so it is something that they routinely do with all patients. However, as the day gets busy the radiographers can be distracted, by doctors coming into the control room or with phones calls, and communicating with the patient at all times can sometimes prove difficult. However, the unit thank you for your feedback and have passed on your comments to the radiographers to emphasise the need to provide reassurance throughout the scan.

Kind regards

Graham Richardson

Deputy Manager, PALS and Complaints

PALS can be contacted for advice and assistance on 020 8401 3210 or at ch-tr.pals@nhs.net

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Response from Helena Taylor-Knox, The Power of Story Project, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust 9 years ago
Helena Taylor-Knox
The Power of Story Project,
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 26/11/2015 at 09:07
Published on Care Opinion at 11:11

Dear Pedestrian432

I can see our colleagues at Croydon have responded to your feedback but we felt it was also important to thank you for your positive feedback on your experience at the Maudsley. We have passed this on to our Clinical Specialist Radiographer, to make sure her team is aware of your experience.

Thanks again for taking the time to review post on Patient Opinion

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