Phone consultation with dermatologist?

I saw my GP about a mole I was concerned about around 3 weeks ago, he referred me to the hospital where I went for a dermoscopy appointment roughly 2 weeks ago where they take detailed photos of the mole. I was told that if they weren’t concerned I’d be contacted to say no further action required, if the were concerned or unsure I’d be asked to go back to see a dermatologist face to face. I received a letter last week asking me to go back for a face to face appointment next Thursday. But today I’ve  had a text and an email ‘reminding me of my ‘phone consultation’ with the dermatologist next Thursday?? No explanation as to why it’s suddenly been changed to a phone appointment. Surely they can’t assess my mole over the phone? And if they weren’t concerned enough to take a closer look at it they’d have just not made me an appointment in the first place? Or contacted me to say no further action is needed. I don’t understand changing it to a phone appointment and I’m concerned why.  Any ideas would be much appreciated 

  • Hi,

    It does sound confusing and I can only assume that they may have decided a face to face wasn't necessary and they can do the appointment by phone (especially now there will be a backlog due to the consultants being on strike). It may be that they want to monitor your mole for changes over the next few months and they wanted to explain this to you. Or, they may have seen the medical photos and decided to arrange for it to be removed in case it's malignant. Unfortunately you won't know until next Thursday unless you try to phone dermatology and see if anyone can explain the situation - it's worth a try. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

    Angie, Stage 3 melanoma patient since 2009

  • Hi Angie, thanks so much for your reply. So after several days of stressing, I received a text saying that the ‘phone appointment’ had been sent in error and I do need to attend the hospital for a face to face meeting! So it was just an admin error lol

    Appointment is at 10:45 today! A bit nervous!

    Xx

  • Good luck for your appointment 

    hope you get a positive outcome 

    love Lara 

  • Good luck. I hope it's gone well xx