Dying for our GPS to listen

SOON after my mum was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, I went to the GP’S with her.

Mum was a nurse and had lots of questions about her treatment and prognosis.

But the GP kept telling her to wait and ask the hospital consultant – clearly dodging the “how long have I got?” moment.

So Mum lost her temper and shouted: “The trouble with you doctors is you don’t listen properly.”

I crept off to the loo while they talked properly.

After that the same doctor would come and visit Mum at home, answer all her questions and stay for a cuppa.

This week a report from the Royal College of Physicians revealed many doctors are still “shying away” from having difficult conversations with dying patients.

Some say they avoid the topic because “death could be perceived as failure since modern medicine is expected to cure all ailments”.

Others blame workforce pressures, lack of time and privacy or sensitivity to cultural and religious beliefs.

But patients and carers say they WANT to talk about death and that planning helps them to feel more empowered.

Julia Verne of Public Health England, said: “Giving patients the opportunity to plan and express their end of life care choices can bring peace of mind to them and their loved ones.”

Patients need their questions answered.

So doctors need to listen – and stop dodging difficult conversations.

I HAVEN’T watched Doctor Who since I was ten, when Jon Pertwee occupied the Tardis. And then it was mostly from behind the sofa. I’ve never got sci-fi and, while I’d recognise a Dalek or an Alpha Centauran, I don’t know a Graske from an Abzorbaloff.

Aliens bore me. Saving the universe? Waste of time.

But, as I loved actress Jodie Whittaker in Broadchurch, I thought I’d give it a go again last week.

And I found the new Doctor absolutely mesmerising.

She is quirky, powerful and fizzing with energy – just like her sonic screwdriver

– while Bradley Walsh is a brilliant sidekick. I can’t wait for tonight’s episode set in America’s Deep South in 1955.

She meets Rosa Parks, right, the black woman from Montgomery, Alabama, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and sparked the civil rights movement.

I love the fact the producers are taking on subjects like this. It brings a new dimension to sci-fi.

So I’ll be glued to the front of the sofa in future.