The doctor-patient relationship, communication and consulting
skills (3)
3.1 Respecting patients as
competent and equal partners with different areas of
expertise
3.2 Sharing decision-making with patients,
enabling them to make informed choices
3.3 Respecting patients’ perception of the
experience of their illness (health beliefs); their social
cumstances, habits, behaviour, attitude to risk, values and
preferences
3.4 Understanding the role of patients’
ideas, values, concerns and expectations in their understanding of
their problems
3.5 Incorporating patients’ expectations,
preferences and choices in formulating an appropriate management
plan
3.6 Showing an interest in patients, being
attentive to their problems, treating them politely, considerately,
and demonstrating active listening skills
3.7 Demonstrating communication and
consultation skills and showing familiarity with well-recognised
consultation techniques
3.8 Establishing effective rapport with the
patient
3.9 Responding to patients’ verbal and
non-verbal cues to any underlying concerns
3.10 Being able to detect, elicit and respond
to patients’ emotional issues
3.11 Being able to deal with patients’
difficult emotions, e.g. denial, anger, fear
3.12 Making links between emotional and
physical symptoms, or between physical, psychological and social
issues
3.13 Communicating and articulating with
patients effectively, clearly, fluently and framing content at an
appropriate level, wherever the consultation takes place, including
by telephone or in writing
3.14 Involving patients’ significant others
such as their next of kin or carer, when appropriate, in a
consultation
3.15 Sensitively minimising any potentially
embarrassing physical or psychological exposure by respecting
patients’ dignity, privacy and modesty
3.16 Explaining to the patient the purpose
and nature of an examination and offering a chaperone when
appropriate
3.17 Where appropriate, facilitating changes
in patients’ behaviour
3.18 Having an understanding of family or
group dynamics sufficient to allow effective intervention in
patients’ family contexts
3.19 Demonstrating an awareness of the doctor
as a therapeutic agent, the impact of transference and
counter-transference, the danger of dependency, and displaying an
insight into the psychological processes affecting the patient, the
doctor and the relationship between them
3.20 Understanding the factors, such as
longer consultations, which are associated with a range of better
patient outcomes