8 CARE OF PATIENT IN DIAGNOSTIC RADIOGRAPHY

patient or discussed outside the hospital. This applies not only to informa
tion on his medical history, but also to anything which may be discovered
about a patient in the course of duty. Most people realize that doctors,

clergymen and lawyers, whose work brings them into knowledge of the
personal history of others, are bound in secrecy concerning this. The most
junior student radiographer should recognize the same obligation.
It is natural enough that if we are enjoying our work and are interested
in we shall wish from time to time to tell our families some story of the
it,

If
day's events. this to be done
must be carefully done, in such way

it
is

a
you mention names you may find

If
that the patient cannot be identified.
that the charlady of the patient's next-door neighbour has overheard you
on bus. This may sound far-fetched, but such things do happen.
a

may be tempting to appear knowledgeable about well-known

It

a
patient — footballer with head injury, an actor with nervous break
a

a
down, —
millionaire with gastric ulcer but we must see to that we

it
a

do not say more than might already have appeared in the daily press.
Not only must we not discuss the patient's medical and personal back
ground with others, we must avoid discussion of his own condition with
the patient himself. no part of our duty to tell the patient what
It
is

is
wrong with him, outline treatment, describe what has been done or may
be done, about recovery. rather function of our
It

res
is

speculate
a

ponsibility not to tell him.

Patients of course ask radiographers questions about X-ray films which
have been taken and seek information on what has been revealed.

It
is
quite wrong to escape in the answer that 'they are all right'. In fact

a
direct answer should be evaded, and the question can easily be turned
some reply such as 'The doctor will see the films and he will be
by

aside
able to tell you', or Tm
afraid we can't say until the doctor has seen the
films all together after they are dry'. Such answers should be made in as
reassuring manner as possible.
a

Even simple piece of information can have an unpredictable effect

a

upon the patient. may seem easy to tell patient that he has broken
It

toe, but this can fling him into flurry of uncertainty as to whether he
is
a

likely to be unable to work and for how long, and he has an active
if

imagination or ballet dancer he can see his whole career jeopardized.

is
a

He may even be just desperately anxious to take certain girl to dance

a

that night. In fairness to both the radiographer and the patient,

it
is
by

preferable that he should be told about his broken toe the doctor
who can provide answers to the questions that must surely follow.
In this chapter the radiographer has been defined in relation to the