Clinical communication underpins safe patient care. The effective health professional sees illness through the patient’s eyes and understands what matters most to him or her. Effectiveness means gathering hard clinical data about the physical changes affecting the patient, understanding why the patient is concerned, conveying this to other health care professionals and involving the patient at every stage of management decisions. The evidence for good clinical communication is well established, although there are challenges. While listening is the basis of sound diagnosis and clinical reasoning, its absence affects patient outcomes particularly when patients are not permitted to make their concerns known or when there are gaps in information flow or communication between the professionals caring for them. The ABC of Clinical Communication considers the evidence pertinent to individual encounters between patients and their health professionals, how to achieve efficient flow of information, the function of clinical teams and developing a teaching programme. Topics covered include: The consultation Clinical communication and personality type Shared decision making Communication in clinical teams Communication in medical records Communication in specific situations, including mental health and end of life Teaching clinical communication The chapter authors are clinicians involved in communicating with patients, research and training healthcare professionals of the future. This team reflects the multidisciplinary approach required to develop effective clinical communication.

Highly Commended at the British Medical Association Book Awards 2016 Clinical Communication in Medicine brings together the theories, models and evidence that underpin effective healthcare communication in one accessible volume. Endorsed and developed by members of the UK Council of Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education, it traces the subject to its primary disciplinary origins, looking at how it is practised, taught and learned today, as well as considering future directions. Focusing on three key areas – the doctor-patient relationship, core components of clinical communication, and effective teaching and assessment – Clinical Communication in Medicine enhances the understanding of effective communication. It links theory to teaching, so principles and practice are clearly understood. Clinical Communication in Medicine is a new and definitive guide for professionals involved in the education of medical undergraduate students and postgraduate trainees, as well as experienced and junior clinicians, researchers, teachers, students, and policy makers.

Medical Communication in Clinical Contexts

This 2006 volume provides a comprehensive discussion of communication between doctors and patients in primary care consultations. It brings together a team of leading contributors from the fields of linguistics, sociology and medicine to describe each phase of the primary care consultation, identifying the distinctive tasks, goals and activities that make up each phase of primary care as social interaction. Using conversation analysis techniques, the authors analyze the sequential unfolding of a visit, and describe the dilemmas and conflicts faced by physicians and patients as they work through each of these activities. The result is a view of the medical encounter that takes the perspective of both physicians and patients in a way that is both rigorous and humane. Clear and comprehensive, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers in sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and medicine.

This brand new title in the popular ABC series offers an up-to-date introduction on improving patient safety in primary and secondary care. The ABC of Patient Safety covers an area of increasing importance in healthcare and provides a clear description of the underlying principles that influence practice. Patient safety is now an integral part of the training for all Foundation doctors and is rapidly becoming a component of many undergraduate and postgraduate exams, including the nMRCGP. This book is an ideal companion for this training. A wide variety of clinical staff and managers in primary and secondary care will find this book an essential text, offering an ideal theoretical and practical aid to patient safety. GPs and practice managers will find this book of particular interest, as well as medical and nursing students.

Clinical Communication Skills for Medicine is an essential guide to the core skills for effective patient-centered communication. In the twenty years since this book was first published the teaching of these skills has developed and evolved. Today's doctors fully appreciate the importance of communicating successfully and sensitively with people receiving health care and those close to them. This practical guide to developing communication skills will be of value to students throughout their careers. The order of the chapters reflects this development, from core skills to those required to respond effectively and compassionately in challenging situations. The text includes case examples, guidelines and opportunities to encourage the reader to stop and think. The contents of the book cover: - The fundamental elements of clinical communication, including skills for effectively gathering and sharing information, discussing sensitive topics and breaking bad news. - Shared decision making, reflecting the rapid changes in expectations of medical care and skills for supporting patients in making decisions which are right for them. - Communicating with a patient's family, children and young people, patients from different cultural backgrounds, communicating via an interpreter and communicating with patients who have a hearing impairment. - Diversity in communication, including examples of communicating with patients who have a learning disability, transgender patients, and older adult patients. - Communicating about medical error, emphasising the importance of doctors being honest in the face of difficult situations. - This is a practical guide to learning and developing communication skills throughout medical training. - The chapters range from the development of basic skills to those dealing with challenging and difficult situations.

Effective communication is at the heart of medical profession, whether it is patient-doctor communication, interpersonal communication, or communication with the scientific and research community. However, medical professionals are not adequately trained in these skills, and when it comes to presentations, the message is often lost due to inadequate preparation, ineffective slides, and a generally unconvincing performance by the presenter. This book addresses all aspects of the communication skills required by individuals entering medical school as well as professionals farther up the career ladder. Each chapter offers a quote or a statement that captures the essence of the text. Adopting a unique approach known an A, B, C, D and E (Assess Need, Brief, Contextualize, Describe and Evaluate) the book includes abundant illustrations, real-world case scenarios, anecdotes, tables, graphs and cartoons, as well as practical information, and tips on communicating effectively. As such it is a valuable resource for new and experienced clinicians, educators and researchers wanting to improve their communications skills.

Clinical Communication Skills is a ground-breaking new resource for medical students. It provides a practical introduction to the subject, with acknowledgement of key theories. Pragmatic worked examples will be of immediate benefit in clinical environments. The book draws on patient and professional involvement with interview podcasts.

Clinical professionalism is a set of values, behaviours and relationships which underpins the public’s trust in healthcare providers both as individuals and organisations. ‘First, do no harm’ is expressed most clearly today in the patient safety movement and the imperative for transparency and candour in the delivery of healthcare. Professional conduct is essential for safe and high quality clinical care. The ABC of Clinical Professionalism considers recent evidence on how healthcare practitioners maintain professionalism including how values are developed and affected by the working environment, the challenges of maintaining personal and organisational resilience and the ethical and regulatory framework in which practice is conducted. Topics covered include: Acquiring and developing professional values Patient-centred care Burnout and resilience Confidentiality and social media The culture of healthcare Ensuring patient safety Leadership and collaboration Ethical and legal aspects of professionalism Teaching and assessing professionalism Regulation of healthcare professionals The chapter authors come from a range of countries and have experience of working in multidisciplinary clinical teams, research, and in the training of future healthcare practitioners including their development as professionals.

Clinicians are taught masses of facts, but not how to use them inthe messy reality of patient care. This book provides a missinglink between evidence and the clinical coalface. Though there areplenty of guides to evidence-based medicine, few explain how tobuild the information into patient oriented decision-making.Clinical Thinking allows you to think both logically andlaterally about daily clinical issues and look at problems fromdifferent angles. Uses realistic scenarios, frameworks and models Takes you through the whole decision-making process, fromobservation and narrative to evaluating the best evidence for theindividual situation Illustrations and flow charts help clarify this newapproach These methods have been tried and tested by the authors,internationally respected general practitioners and teachers inprimary care – all leaders in the evidence-based medicinemovement This book takes clinical medicine a big step forward in thedirection of patient-focused practice!