IN MY VIEW... WHAT DOCTORS CAN LEARN FROM HAIRDRESSERS

A TRAINING course was held recently in Norwich for 200 hairdressers who were learning how to identify and advise their clients on domestic abuse.

Given that people tend to find and stick to a single hairdresser, with whom they often develop a close relationship, hairdressers are, I believe, well placed to assist.

The benefit of a trusted, discreet professional relationship cannot be over emphasised. There was a time when the relationship with a family doctor held the same value, but sadly this closeness of contact has been eroded due to the increasingly complex demands of medical care and an ageing population.

This, coupled with a reduction in GP numbers, has resulted in unmanageable workloads, high levels of disillusionment and burnout.

But rather than working to improve the doctor/patient relationship, the powers that be seem determined to do the reverse. The Care Quality Commission — the social care and health watchdog — has started a campaign to encourage people to be more willing to complain about their experiences of GP care, stating that this will result in improvements.

To me, it seems only likely to further erode the morale of GPs, leading yet more to choose to leave, when already 40 per cent of doctors plan to go in the next five years.

Concerns about delays, cancelled appointments, lack of information, or disappointments about treatment, can be addressed and resolved by giving simple feedback (in our compulsory annual appraisals we all have to confirm that we provide opportunities for that).

The best way to get good care from your practice is to develop a warm and confident relationship with your doctor — just as one might with a hairdresser.