Dr Anthony Shonde 2023-08-11 Person 2 5 0

From the initial phone call I should’ve known how unpleasant the experience was going to be with Dr Shonde. Rang me 45 minutes late with no apology, no pleasantries just a 1 minute phone call of him being rather rude and when I said I have a severe gag reflex he said “everyone says that”. I would say if he actually listened to me and heard about my history he might have been a bit more understanding but no I don’t think he would. Booked in for a gastroscopy via his secretary. Arrived to my room and the nurse went through some things and basically pre warned me to excuse Dr Shondes mannerisms “Dr Shonde will fly in and out he’s very quick” I got the impression she was embarrassed. About an hour after my admission time he flew, literally, in and out, didn’t say hello he said what the risks are and asked me to sign, I felt like I had no choice to read what I was signing. After 30 seconds he flew back out and straight away I felt even more nervous. An endoscopy nurse came up to get me and as we were walking down I explained how nervous I was and how I have a facial proximity fear and a severe gag reflex and told her about past traumatic episodes and she basically brushed it off. Entered the theatre room and Dr Shonde did not even turn around. At this point I was so upset how could he not even acknowledge me? The nurses in the room asked me to lay on the bed and he came over and put the cannula in. Again he did not say ONE word. Not even “sharp scratch”. He then asked me to open my mouth and sprayed the throat spray. What happened next was something I can only explain as the most traumatic experience I’ve ever had. Before I knew it the nurse was putting oxygen in my nose and a ring in my mouth to keep my mouth open. At this point I was getting really worked up because if they listened to me they would know I had a real fear. They asked me to lay on my side and this is where I genuinely can’t believe I even had any sedation because I remember everything and felt everything. I was expecting to be relaxed and drowsy, I was sobbing before they even put the camera down my throat so clearly the sedation was not enough. The next thing that happened was truly awful he put it down my throat (didn’t even ask me to swallow) I wasn’t told if I wanted to stop to raise my hand or anything and because I had someone holding my head and unable to talk I had to suffer through it. I was retching the whole time it was inside me and they placed yet another instrument in my mouth to suck the bile up. When I was over I was taken to recovery sobbing and was so upset. The nurses in recovery were lovely and actually the nicest people I had encountered during the day. When I was taken back to my room and nurse came to do my obs and said I could go. I was shocked to have not seen Dr Shonde so he could tell me what he had found. Turns out he doesn’t come back to see you after you’ve had the procedure so I got an information sheet of what he found and lots of questions which the nurse couldn’t answer as it’s not her expertise. I know this is a lengthy review but I feel like I need to share my experience to let others know what you’re getting yourself in for. If you want a doctor that is caring, listens to you and has a bed side manner then please avoid this Doctor. I am extremely grateful that the NHS paid for this procedure but if I was paying out of my own pocket I would be extremely angry and disappointed. To me it has proved that the NHS is simply unbeatable, I have never felt like this in any NHS hospital, I actually started to wonder is he treating me like this because I’m an NHS patient? Does he treat his paying customers differently? If so that is absolutely not on. I have the upmost respect for a person who committed his life and career in healthcare, but somethings can’t be taught and it’s a shame Dr Shonde has no compassion or empathy. Please don’t ignore the other negative reviews.