A woman notices a mole on her shoulder that seems darker than it was. She photographs it, searches online, reads a great deal that frightens her, and contacts a clinic at eleven at night.
What she needs is an appointment. What she must not receive is anything that sounds like reassurance, and what she must not do is wait another three months because a website made her feel she was overreacting.
1. Never offer reassurance
Not in a reply, not in a form response, not implicitly. No system and no member of staff should say anything that could reduce the urgency somebody feels.
2. Treat every enquiry as one to see
A mole somebody is worried enough about to contact a clinic is a mole worth examining. The clinical assessment happens at the appointment and not before it.
3. Ask the prioritisation questions
Whether it has changed, over what period, whether it bleeds, itches or is new. These determine urgency and they are questions anybody can answer.
4. Offer the earliest appropriate appointment
Speed is the service. Somebody worried about a mole who waits six weeks spends six weeks worrying and sometimes decides not to attend at all.
5. Explain what happens at the appointment
Examination, dermoscopy, possibly photography for comparison, and a clear explanation of the findings. Concrete description reduces the fear of attending.
6. Say whether a full skin check is offered
Many people have one concern and several other moles they have not examined. A whole skin assessment is frequently the right appointment.
7. Explain the possible outcomes plainly
Reassurance after examination, monitoring with review, or removal and analysis. Knowing the possible paths is less frightening than not knowing.
8. Be clear about the biopsy process
What it involves, what it feels like, whether it happens on the day and how long results take. The results wait is the hardest part and it should be stated.
9. Encourage photographs for monitoring
A dated photograph taken now is genuinely useful for comparison, and it is something somebody can do tonight while waiting for an appointment.
10. Explain the referral position
For public and private routes, and what to do where a wait is long. Somebody with a genuine concern should not be left navigating that alone.
11. Encourage them to attend even if it seems to settle
Changes come and go, and something that looks better is not necessarily resolved. This is worth saying because people cancel.
12. Handle the enquiry with real care
Fear is the dominant emotion and the tone of every word matters, which is the discipline in mole check and skin concern enquiries handled safely.
13. Keep the boundaries absolute elsewhere too
Nothing clinical should be answered in a first contact, which is the same rule applied in acne treatment questions that must stay non clinical.
14. Screen and route rather than advise
The correct function of a first response here is triage, which is the discipline in receptionist screening questions.
15. Answer at eleven at night
An assistant that takes the concern seriously, asks the prioritisation questions, offers no view whatsoever on what it might be and passes the request on for the earliest appointment the clinic can offer reaches somebody at the moment they are most frightened and most likely to act. Handling health information requires the standards discussed in security questions from clients worried about a breach. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under clinics.