BA | BC | WB | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finding a way through the healthcare system | First generation | Second generation | First generation | Second generation | NA |
Not knowing where to go | |||||
Operating as barrier? | Yes | No | No | No | No |
“I kept on feeling there is something there and as it went on I was really, really scared because I could feel it and I was thinking what do I do because I always go for mammogram, and I didn't know if I should wait to be called, so I didn't know where to go or to start. I thought shall I go to my GP or shall I go to the hospital?” (22BA, first generation, 64 years, 1.5 years) | “I knew to go to my GP because I just do…it's the first place you go for problems with your health unless it's serious or you break something and you need to get the treatment there and then.” (25BA, second generation, 44 years, 2 weeks) | “I have regular appointments anyway for other things so I always ask my GP about anything first.” (7BC, first generation, 68 years, 1 day) | “I went to my GP because that's what I've always done and that's how you get referred for further tests…I'd had cysts aspirated before and this was no different.” (1BC, second generation, 41 years, 1 week) | “I'd go in [to GP] for ad-hoc things if something's been lingering on more than a couple of weeks…I'd never go to A&E [accident and emergency] because that's for something that's immediately going to kill you and I wasn't just going to drop down dead…not yet anyway.” (31WB, 45 years, 1–2 weeks) | |
Difficulty booking GP appointments | |||||
Operating as a barrier? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
“I couldn't wait outside my GP because I had to take my children to school…I had to wait until the holidays to go there…I didn't know I could tell the lady on the phone what I had and she would get me an appointment. (12BA, first generation, 43 years, 3 months) | “It can be hard to get an appointment but…I always tell them what I am ringing for…I said, ‘Look I have found this lump, can you help me?’ and she said, ‘Oh yes, we'll get you in today.’” (26BA, second generation, 45 years, 3–5 days) | “It's very hard [to get an appointment] sometimes you wait 3 weeks but I told the receptionist I found a lump and I got an appointment the next day.” (14BC, first generation, 63 years, 1 day) | “The woman was adamant there were no appointments and I think she said, ‘Why, do you mind me asking what's the appointment for?’ I said, ‘I think I've found a lump in my breast and she said hold on 1 min. She went around the back and came back and said, ‘Can you come back at 11.00 am?’, I went, ‘OK…’. They all have their little systems don't they.” (13BC, second generation, 48 years, 1 week) | “I was really worried because of what was happening with my sister and then with me finding this and I just broke down and told the receptionist my sister had breast cancer and I found a lump…there was a little part of me that knew she might feel sorry for me and I wouldn't have to wait…and I think with the crying she did feel sorry for me because it was, ‘We'll fit you in today if you can make it’.” (30WB, 34 years, 2–3 months) | |
Feeling disempowered | |||||
Operating as a barrier? | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
“I never knew anything about cancer…She [the GP] said, ‘Oh, buy a better bra’…I said, ‘Hello, this ball [lump in her armpit] is rolling’ but she told me to take some paracetamol and I said, ‘But this breast is much bigger’ and I just believed what she told me: ‘Oh it's nothing.’ But I never agreed with what she saying but I say to myself, ‘She's a grandmother let me do these things she is telling me and see after that’.” (17BA, first generation, 37 years, 2 weeks) | “If my doctor had gone, ‘Oh there's nothing to worry about’ I might have dropped it but then I would think, ‘No, I know my body’ and you will do something about this.” (25BA, second generation, 44 years, 2 weeks) | “I told my GP I wasn't feeling well and I thought, ‘Should I tell her about my lump? Is it important?’ …I didn't even tell my GP about my lump until she asked me and then she didn't really comment on it as a matter of concern it didn't bother me.” (23BC, first generation, 59 years, 2 years) | “At the end of the day what I want is important as well…I know to say, ‘This is what's wrong with me’. I would say, ‘Yeah, this is what I want. I need you to do something’. I would do that. Some people haven't got that. They're not strong enough to insist ok this is what I want from you but I can fight for what I want.” (8BC, second generation, 53 years, 3 months) | “Because of what had happened with my sister…I told my GP about her and he said he didn't think it was anything to really worry about but because of my family history he'd refer me…I knew I was quite young to be having breast cancer…otherwise I'm not sure he would have sent me for a biopsy and everything else but I would of insisted on a referral anyway.” (30WB, 34 years, 2–3 months) | |
Difficulty organising and attending hospital appointments | |||||
Operating as a barrier? | Yes | No | No | No | No |
“She [medic] didn't have to tell me that it definitely wasn't cancer. All she needed to do was take my biopsy and leave it to the people who are the experts in that field to tell me whether I had cancer or not, because I feel so guilty passing those two appointments.” (24BA, first generation, 55 years, 3 days) | “I got my letter in a couple of days saying about having my tests…I wouldn't cancel an appointment because you don't know if you have cancer or not at that point, plus you're only worrying yourself if you waited.” (46BA, 2nd generation, 46 years, 3 weeks) | “I got my letter and went…I wouldn't cancel or change my appointment, I wanted to know what it was so it would have been a bit silly wouldn't it.” (2BC, first generation, 84 years, 1 day) | “I didn't get my letter and it was about 2 weeks, I'm thinking, ‘I should be hearing by now’ you know? So I rang the hospital and they said, ‘No, we haven't got anything’ so they told me to ring my GP and he was really good and sorted it out.” (9BC, second generation, 50 years, 1 day) | “I got my appointment but if I hadn't, I would've been straight down my GP asking why.” (27WB, 52 years, same day) |
BA, Black African; BC, Black Caribbean; GP, general practitioner; WB, White British.