My creative piece is about an encounter with a patient in one of my clinical rotations at Southmead Hospital. 

This particular patient had mild dementia. We were able to gain some sort of history but when asking about diet she turned the conversation onto me and started making some crude assumptions and comments about what I eat based on the colour of my skin. Of course this is not an appropriate thing to occur in the hospital and no member of staff should have to deal with this. This isn’t just a local problem that occurs but rather a nationwide problem that healthcare professionals deal with. This encounter opened my eyes to what professionals face on a day to day basis and also showed me what I may face in the near future. This particular situation was interesting to me as there is a conflict of interests.  

On the one hand as a doctor you want to treat the patient and help them as much as possible. However, on the other hand being a doctor is also a job and we aren’t ‘superheroes’. We too are also human and will experience different emotions just like everyone else. In different professions, a customer displaying these acts would likely be removed and never to be seen again. However, in a hospital setting, it can be very difficult to do this and situations like these tend to be brushed under the carpet.  

My poem aims to demonstrate this. What I found interesting that despite having dementia, the patient was still able to express her thoughts about race clearly which suggests that this problem is relatively deep rooted. Hence the words  

‘Yet some things remain ingrained 

I didn’t think colour would be one’ 

 Whilst we are taught to report the situation to our supervisors at hospital, this tends to not be the case as it occurs so frequently.  

Looking back on the situation made me realise how important it is to look after both the patient and yourself. No person no matter the occupation or situation should be made to feel less than they are worth. These situations are common and I will likely face something like this in the future. The key is to not let it affect me, speak to someone about it and move forward with the day ahead.