Tell patients straight

SIR – Patients are “urged to take responsibility for their own health” (report, November 6). Community nurses like myself have long promoted self care and prevention.

In the Nineties, as a specialist in wound management, I advised a man to stop smoking, or he would lose one or both legs. “I could never give up. My wife smokes as well, and she will never stop,” was his reply. I repeated my advice, based on clinical findings, saying it was up to him and his wife.

Six months later, a man I did not recognise approached me in a clinic. “You won’t remember me. I told you I could never give up smoking, but, after your advice and warning, my wife and I stopped smoking . My legs feel more comfortable. Thank you.”

When a nurse in a teaching session questioned the value of advising patients to give up smoking, as “they never do”, I replied that it is our professional duty to give the advice. If we don’t, the patient does not have the information to help them decide and will carry on with the harmful activity, be it smoking, over-eating or not exercising.

Eleanor Davis

Buckley, Flintshire