Susan - Interview 46

Age at interview: 64

Brief Outline:

Susan has always attended for routine mammograms and had normal results. She is happy with the screening service and grateful to be invited every three years.

Background:

Susan is a retired social worker. She is married with two adult children. Ethnic background/nationality: White British.

More about me...

Susan has always attended for breast screening and had normal results. She has always been to a mobile unit near her home but, when she received her last invitation letter in 2007, had been on holiday. She found it easy to change her appointment, though had to attend a screening unit slightly further away. She felt the radiologist was very good but found the receptionist's manner a bit off-putting.

Susan said some of her friends have had breast cancer. She encourages other women to attend for screening and says she would continue going for screening after the age of seventy if her GP recommends it. Before going for a mammogram or while waiting for the result, Susan said she doesn't worry. She felt happy with the breast screening service and grateful for the opportunity to be screened every three years.      

Susan changed her appointment because she'd been on holiday at the time she was invited. She...

And you've attended every time?

Yes.

And you said that in your case you've always had clear results, you've just got the letter automatically two or three weeks later, no problem whatsoever?

Quite.

But this last time that I met you in the screening unit, what had been happening there that you'd gone there instead of your usual one?

Oh right. I'd be, probably, well what had happened, we were away in July when I got the call and I rang up the hospital and said to them, 'Look, I can't make this, can you give me another appointment?' But she said, 'No, you can't do that. You have to go back to your doctor.' So I thought, when I came back, I went to my doctor and he said, 'Well that's peculiar, I'll ring them.'  So he rang them and said, 'Give, she's going to ring you later, give her an appointment.' And I did. And so I just went up to the hospital, that was pure and simple. I just wanted to have it done, out of the way so to speak and that's all I can say about that. That's the reason why I went up, normally I would go locally but because of missing it, that's all.

Right, so normally you would go somewhere here?

Yeah, to the local breast screening unit, which is our porta cabin that we use, yes.

Susan says she takes it for granted that she'll be invited for a routine mammogram every three...

Have you ever had to phone because you haven't received a letter or?

No. I'm just amazed how three years can go by so quickly, now it's always been on the doorstep and I mean this came yesterday so it's bang on time really.

Yeah, and between the three years do you think 'oh my appointment should be coming' nearer the time or you just wait for the letter to arrive?

I take it for granted, isn't that wonderful? One can take that for granted, that's what it's all about, to be reminded isn't it?  Not to have to worry about it, my goodness me is it three years ago? Amazing.

Susan had her last mammogram in a hospital unit instead of in a mobile van. She felt that the...

Did you notice any difference between your local place, the mobile unit that you usually go and the other one, the static unit in the hospital? 

Oh yeah. I mean there it's a different environment to start with, I mean it's quite small in this cabin that you use. I don't think I had, to facilitate I thought it was a bit small last time. This time it was much more pleasurable even though I had to wait an hour, and getting up there was no problem.

Do you feel there's room for improvement with the breast screening?

Oh no I think, I thought that was very, very good, very good.

And in terms of the place that you go to locally which is a portacabin, could that be improved at all?

Certainly that could be improved [laughs].

What would be the best situation?

What they did have, well you can't have anything permanently can you? That's the local mobile clinic, do they actually move the caravans there or do they leave the caravan there? I can't remember.

I'm not sure.

I'm not sure about that. I mean it's serviceable. I mean you don't want to sit in there all day if they run their appointments, which they did, it's just a smaller environment really, it's just the same sort of thing but, you know, a caravan's a caravan isn't it?

Yeah. In the ideal world, would you prefer a static unit, a bit more space?

Now, no, I don't mind sticking to the local mobile unit, it's just I missed it, because it's convenient for me, it's not so far. So that's convenient, that's fine. But they're not coming for another three years and that's why I went to the other, static unit in the hospital.

Yeah, so you'll have another appointment in three years time locally then

Yes.

In terms of the actual breast screening though you feel that it's'?

Fine. No problems whatsoever, I mean the only time you can pick something  up it's like, when you go to a doctor's surgery and you always go in there and you see a friend and you say, 'Oh how are you?' 'Oh I'm fine.' And you think to yourself 'what the hell am I doing in here?' So you can pick up a common cold by sitting in a waiting room for so long, that is a major problem, I mean probably the area in there could've been bigger as we were waiting. I mean I like the idea of water, locked toilet, I see that for security reasons and the TV there, that's fine. But there was, we were sitting in close proximity and I just felt 'oh gosh I hope' 'cause it's like sitting in an international airport.

Susan said the receptionist's manner was off-putting but the radiologist was warm, welcoming and...

She was something else, the receptionist. If ever I heard anyone sigh, she must have sighed about a thousand times.

The receptionist in the first area before you came into the second?

Yeah. Oh she needed removing that one.

How did you feel, a few people mentioned the receptionist. 

They did, didn't they?

I didn't actually see her. What was her attitude like that people weren't happy with?

Oh it was, when anyone ever sighs you know there's a problem anyway, [loud sigh] as if every, she did that every time and course my husband and I, 'cause my husband came with me, we just had a hoot about it, thought it so funny as if, 'oh no, no, no-one else coming in surely, why do you want to come in here?' attitude. She wasn't the right person, one has to say. 

How did you feel about the radiologist on this occasion and compared to any other occasions?

I thought that she was very warming, an older woman, not abrupt, very soft, spoke nicely to me, didn't treat me like a cattle grid, you know, because I mean she's done quite a few during the day. You could have that attitude but certainly she did not. Very, very good. That is all so important, not to be patronising, but to be welcoming and explain what she's going to do, you got any questions you can ask, no problems at all. Very pleasant, very, very pleasant.

So have you ever come across a radiologist whose attitude you felt '[mmm] this isn't'.'?

I could, I mean I think possibly they can, I don't know when, but I would, I can understand that some could be put under great pressure and possibly, can I remember three years ago? This one seemed very pleasant and probably outshone all the others but it's because of the pressure they're under, I mean we can all be under pressure, in my last job I was probably under pressure and you try not to show it but there can be a kink in the works somewhere, so that can come through. But certainly I felt, having sat there for an hour waiting to go in, that this lady was very pleasant, so past experiences over-shone, this one over-shone all the rest anyway.

For Susan, routine breast screening is 'icing on top of the cake'. She always attends her...

You mentioned before we started the interview that you've always had clear results but that hasn't always been the case with friends?

No, I've lost a lot of friends.

Through breast cancer?

Breast cancer. I have one at the moment whose been diagnosed within a month, a year younger than me, they found the shadow, it wasn't a lump, it was like a shadow and she's immediately had her breast removed and now she's started to have chemo, so' And I'd lost one this year, forty-nine year old who had it for twelve years. And then I lost one last year, who had it again for about twelve years, forty-eight. So it's there in the back of your mind obviously, but I do check myself as well. But then it doesn't always prove to be a lump, that is the problem. But the way of looking at breast screening for me as an individual is, that's the icing on top of the cake, that's a pun isn't really because' But they can find out, they can find out if it's not there, that's fine, and I'm very happy about that and I'm very happy about getting that letter.