http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7402/1286-b

BMJ  2003;326:1286 (14 June)
 

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Doctors must listen more

Good communication skills are essential to make the doctor-patient relationship work, the round table agreed.

Annie Stephenson, policy officer for the charity Help the Aged, argued that doctors should play more of a listening role.

"Just stepping back and listening and hearing are crucial."

But for Reg McLaughlin, chief executive of Greater London Action on Disability (GLAD), communication skills are paramount. He has lost his hearing and relies on sign language or an interpreter. Better communication would have helped him when he recently had an operation that required an anaesthetic.

"Nobody explained to me before I came out that it takes longer for a deaf person to come out of anaesthetic because you can't hear the stimuli that are being given to you. I think there is a role for doctors to ensure that you get the information and not just assume that you have got it."

Lynn Young, from the Royal College of Nursing, pointed out that the last thing many people are capable of when they are ill is taking a greater role in decision making

"When you are ill you are anxious, you are stressed, you feel vulnerable—whether it is you or one of your family—and you are not reasonable.

"Being ill is such a horrible business, and when you are feeling well I think you forget how ghastly it is."

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Communication is everything

Nathan P. Gottehrer

bmj.com, 19 Jun 2003 [Full text]

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