Thousands of NHS doctors to get training in compassion
DOCTORS and nurses will be sent on courses in compassion, amid growing concern that too many are failing to listen to patients.
Thousands of NHS staff will be urged to improve their communication skills, as part of a national drive to help patients improve their health.
The country’s most senior doctor said the future of the health service depended on coaching staff in how to have a more “equal conversation” with patients.
Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director, said the skills were needed to help patients tackle unhealthy lifestyles that have put the health service under unprecedented strain.
Britain’s obesity epidemic has fuelled soaring cases of diabetes, which costs the NHS £10 billion a year.
Hospital admissions related to alcohol have risen by more than 60 per cent in a decade.
The national plan follows pilot schemes which have seen more than 2,000 doctors and nurses sent on twoday training courses, funded by the NHS.
Dr Penny Newman, a former GP who is running the scheme, said staff needed training in how best to handle “difficult conversations” instead of just lecturing patients.
“People need to feel listened to – we know that just handing out advice doesn’t work,” she said. “It’s no good saying to a patient, ‘you need lose two stone, cut out the cakes’. You need to ask ‘What is stopping you from losing the weight?’ so that the patient can develop a plan that works,” she said.
It comes as research shows one in six NHS patients said they had suffered as a result of poor communications with health workers. The two-year study by Patient Opinion found lack of respect and having concerns dismissed were among the chief complaints.
“The way we talk to patients is fundamentally important” Dr Newman said.
“If we don’t get it right we can make mistakes and we can fail to take an opportunity to change patients’ behaviour. The clinician has to be able to really listen, to understand and to be compassionate.”
One study found that the average doctor interrupted their patients 12 seconds after they began speaking.
The training plan comes as health services are under unprecedented pressure, with record shortages of GPs and rising waiting lists to secure an appointment.
The number of patients waiting at least a week to see a family doctor has risen by almost one third in three years, while some doctors say they are forced to see more than 40 patients a day.
But health officials behind the scheme insisted that rushing conversations meant patients were likely to return, as problems worsened.
“If you don’t have a proper conversation with patients in the first place, people just come back. It’s unsatisfying for the doctor as well as the patient and it doesn’t save resources,” Dr Newman said.
Sir Bruce said: “For the NHS to be sustainable, people need to become more active in managing their own health, wellbeing and care.
“They need to be supported to make good choices, and more equal conversations – based on a strong partnership between clinician and patient – are vital for achieving this.”
‘If you don’t have a proper conversation with patients, they just come back’