"The next patient is....."

One day as a radiographer, I was taking some images of a patient that required radiological assessment. I saw the images once they were done and the patient was waiting in the change room, wondering whether what I was looking at and whether it was good news for them or bad news for their employer.

I wasn't sure this time round and decided to ask the radiologist on site, who was a hasty person and worked very efficiently.

The room was dark and all one could see was the endless list of patient referrals that the radiologist had to go through, lit dimly by the large monitors, which were unusually in the portrait position. Among the rare visual cues of the reporting room was the red glow of the dictaphone: the tool that a radiologist uses to dictate their findings verbally, which are then formalised by a typist who trains in medical terminology.

He realised I opened the door but that didn't stop him from continuing on.

"The next patient is Adam Smith with an x-ray of the left knee stop - Findings: there are degenerative changes on the anterior aspect of the tibia stop - joint capsule is intact and there is no evidence of effusion stop - if a cruciate rupture is suspected clinically, an MRI is recommended stop end report"


**Beep - File Sent**

"The next patient is Lucy Wong with a chest x-ray stop - Findings: the heart is not enlarged stop - there is no evidence of pulmonary oedema, consolidation or pleural effusion stop - the mediastinal contours outline normally stop - the lung fields are clear and there is no evidence of pulmonary fibrosis stop end report"


**Beep - File Sent**

He acted as though he didn't know why I was there but there were no illusions as to why I was. I needed his opinion and he didn't like the disruption. I asked him about the patient I had and he gave me his opinion just before starting off the next report with "The next patient is...." so I couldn't help myself and asked him:

"Why do you start every report with that? 'The next patient is...'? I mean they're endless aren't they? They're never going to stop presenting are they?"

He thought about what I said and as uncomfortable as he felt about what I had just said, realised that I regretted saying it because he was now annoyed.

"This is true."