The Consultant Who Says Good Morning
A very annoying letter in the Sunday Times this week, replying to an article in last week’s paper about the French healthcare system:
I disagree with Lois Rogers (French hospitals are as sick as our own NHS, News Review, last week). It’s wrong to give significant weight to issues of privacy, keeping the patient informed and reassured. She was promptly and correctly diagnosed and treated. If I ever go into hospital that’s what I shall want – not reassurance, deferential staff or a consultant who says “Good morning.” I’ll want expert staff, not new friends.
Peter MeAnena
I think the clue to the depths of ignorance - and I use the word in the sense of “not knowing” not in the meaning it’s often used these days of “rudeness” – in this letter is in the phrase “If I ever go into hospital”.
For he really, truly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I have been in an old-style hospital ward where nobody tells you what’s going on, or what’s going to happen next, and where the consultant never even speaks to you. It leads to fear bordering on terror.
It doesn’t take a comprehensive knowledge of psychology to work out that a frightened patient is not going to get well as fast as one who feels that they know what’s going on, and can discuss any worries with friendly staff who have the professional skill – and it is a professional skill – to make the patients feel at ease.
Why on earth shouldn’t the consultant say “Good morning?” What is needed are doctors who have both top-notch clinical skills and also top-notch communication skills. Fortunately, medical schools, knowing the importance of both, are increasingly choosing students who can do both – and quite right too.
A medical student once said to me, “Well, it doesn’t matter that I can’t talk to people, because I want to be a surgeon.”
But surgeons too have to talk to patients before and after the operation, and also to relatives too. And we don’t want a surgeon who would say,
“Well the good news is your mother’s had her operation. But the bad news is, she’s dead.”
I disagree with Lois Rogers (French hospitals are as sick as our own NHS, News Review, last week). It’s wrong to give significant weight to issues of privacy, keeping the patient informed and reassured. She was promptly and correctly diagnosed and treated. If I ever go into hospital that’s what I shall want – not reassurance, deferential staff or a consultant who says “Good morning.” I’ll want expert staff, not new friends.
Peter MeAnena
I think the clue to the depths of ignorance - and I use the word in the sense of “not knowing” not in the meaning it’s often used these days of “rudeness” – in this letter is in the phrase “If I ever go into hospital”.
For he really, truly doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I have been in an old-style hospital ward where nobody tells you what’s going on, or what’s going to happen next, and where the consultant never even speaks to you. It leads to fear bordering on terror.
It doesn’t take a comprehensive knowledge of psychology to work out that a frightened patient is not going to get well as fast as one who feels that they know what’s going on, and can discuss any worries with friendly staff who have the professional skill – and it is a professional skill – to make the patients feel at ease.
Why on earth shouldn’t the consultant say “Good morning?” What is needed are doctors who have both top-notch clinical skills and also top-notch communication skills. Fortunately, medical schools, knowing the importance of both, are increasingly choosing students who can do both – and quite right too.
A medical student once said to me, “Well, it doesn’t matter that I can’t talk to people, because I want to be a surgeon.”
But surgeons too have to talk to patients before and after the operation, and also to relatives too. And we don’t want a surgeon who would say,
“Well the good news is your mother’s had her operation. But the bad news is, she’s dead.”
posted by Daphne at 9:09 pm
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