Dr Richard Powell

Dr Richard Powell 2019-01-25 Person 1 5 0

I recently saw Dr. Powell as I was suffering from chronic hives (urticaria). His "bedside manner" was abrupt and condescending. He did not give a me thorough physical exam, just glanced through some photos of my skin that I has sent him, and then told me, that in his experience, chronic urticaria was usually due to the patient being a perfectionist and highly strung, and nothing to do with allergies. He they said to me that there was something I was not "telling him", effectively suggesting to me that I should say that I had a particular personality type. I then had an allergy test, which he said came up negative even though one of the allergens had clearly caused an adverse reaction on my skin. I then told him that I had been taking anti-histamines for my condition, but could he do anything else? At this point - as I found out later - a competent specialist should have suggested a number of blood tests, as recommended for example by the BMJ in 2015 for chronic urticaria, e.g. thyroid function and thyroid antibodies, serum-specific IgE, etc. to exclude various physical causes. He did not offer any kind of blood test, but just told me to take an over-the-counter antihistamine at a high dose, and that I could have psychiatric treatment if that did not work. Finally, he charged a very high fee for the "consultation", which resulted in me being misinformed and confused.

Dr Richard Powell 2018-02-20 Person 2 5 0

Irritable, impatient , rude and condescending. Professor Powell's bed side manner leaves much to be desired. I am a doctor myself and have worked as a consultant in the NHS before moving abroad recently. I was apalled by his attitude towards us when we visited him for my 2 year old daughter. He would not let us finish a sentence without puffing and tutting. Kept saying to us 'that I have already said this and that' and at every point made us feel like we were idiots. Our daughters issue has been particularly challenging with no diagnosis after multiple consultations and tests over 2 years and for us to face this kind of attitude from someone we had come from broad to see and pay a significant amount totally out of our pockets was an appalling experience. We had to calm him down many times and exercised great restraint in expressing our annoyance to try and get some answers which we were so desperate for. I never imagined writing a report like this for a fellow physician but this has to be brought to notice.