Elusive X-rays

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Last week, I had a chest X-ray done. I was told by my GP to go to a local walk-in centre where they do X-rays, and to pop back in a week to discuss the results. I was weary. When someone says "walk-in centre" to me I immediately think of droves of spotty, sneezing chavs fighting over who's next. I was surprised. The walk-in centre was clean, tidy and the reception staff were helpful. I was the only person there save a morbidly obese lady who had come for a hip X-ray. We chatted about the weather and in ten minutes I had had my X-ray done and I was on my jolly way. The radiographer said I should go back to my GP in two weeks. She was rude.

I hate rudeness. There are few excuses for it. One of them is if the person that you are being rude to has been rude to you. I had not been rude. In fact, I always try to be overly pleasant. Anyway, I digress. The fact that the radiographer was rude wouldn't have normally bothered me, it's something that you've got to live with. However, I don't think that there is any excuse whatsoever for health-care professionals being rude. Imagine if i had been a poorly old man, on my last legs having a chest X-ray to confirm a lung cancer. I would be scared, nervous, and I would probably appreciate seeing someone with a caring attitude. Perhaps her attitude would have changed? But that's not the point. For all she knew I was attending for an X-ray to see if I had something lie...mmm...what could I have had? Perhaps Tuberculosis? I could have been worried. I am good at hiding such things.

Anyway, the experience of the walk-in centre was pleasing. I would have thought that the fact one could walk into a building and have an X-ray, a humble X-ray, within ten minutes would have been impossible in today's NHS. Obviously I was wrong. Perhaps the NHS deserves some credit?

Today I went back to the GPs. I explained that I had come to see if my results were back, and I explained that the GP said a week and the radiologist said two. The receptionist looked as she had heard it all before. She then told me that when she had a CXR (that's medical speak for a chest X-ray) she was waiting three weeks for the result. The practice nurse was there too. She said that if I rang her tomorrow with my details, she would chase everything up and they would hurry up with my results. Hmmm. Perhaps this will work. Perhaps not. The moral of the story is that one should not have to chase around like this for results. And i'm sure that the practice nurse has got better things to do with her time too. X-rays don't take two weeks to report on. Especially ones like mine which will no doubt be obviously fine and dandy.

Oh well. Anyway, the second exam today was just as impossible as the first. Perhaps I will have to resit? Heres hoping not.