GP “codes” - and what your doctor thinks of you!

Bristol University lecturer Phil Hammond, according to a Times article (20.12.97), has leaked details of secret codes used by GPs to warn colleagues of “difficult” patients.

• TATT - tired all the time
• OAP - not an “old age pensioner” but a mother comes in fussing over a child - the over-anxious parent
• TEETH - a hypochondriac for whom nothing works - tried everything else, try homeopathy!
• PAFO relates to someone in accident and emergency who was admitted “pissed and fell over”.
• SIGs are a bit objectionable or, to put it more succinctly, stroppy ignorant gits
• NFB in Taunton can refer to mentally disturbed patients, known colloquially as normal for Bridgewater, just as NFA in Winchester stands for normal for Andover
• Young male doctors may also boast to their colleagues about how many TUBEs they have performed on female patients. This is not a difficult throat procedure but a totally unnecessary breast operation

So next time you glimpse strange acronyms on your medical files there may be more to them than meets the eye!

Speaking of which, make sure that the initials “LW” are at the front of your File - they stand for “living will” and indicate the presence of such a document in the file. The VESS blue-and-white attention  sticker is the handiest way to draw attention to this.