Who is coordinating my care?
Cancer is fraught with uncertainty. The healthcare received should never exacerbate it. I was left coordinating my own care, when I really didn’t know what was happening. At the same time holding the hospitals accountable for my care, while I was receiving it. If I…
Professional Interpreters
In our previous post on translation, we discussed the pros and cons of using family members to help translate information in clinical consultations. I think it is fair to say that we thought there were more cons than pros to this approach. An important point…
Oral Cancer: A Polarisation of care
What’s the one thing you are grateful for? I’m sure many of you answered family, friends, health etc. Did anyone mention speech? Singing? Eating? I wouldn’t have a year or two ago either, that was before I was investigated for oral cancer. My life and…
Translation: A language barrier
In previous blog entries, we have discussed some of the challenges of communication in healthcare. In this blog, we focus on translation. Translation is a language barrier for many people, especially in the ever-growing globalised societies we live. We will touch on some of the…
Avoid using medical jargon
Recently my friends and I have realised that we are using medical jargon without even noticing. We are medical students and are constantly learning new terms to describe our bodies, diseases, and treatments. We’ve had our head in textbooks for years now. We no longer…
What does ‘self-management’ mean?
The term self-management is a charged term in healthcare. For some patients’ they believe it means “do it yourself”, “you’re on your own” and worse still “we don’t have time for you”. So, no wonder people feel frustrated when self-management is brought into the conversation….
Online services in primary care
Things, as we know it, are changing. We hear time and time again on the news that we don’t have enough GPs. Many are leaving the profession because of stress and an extensive workload. Yet patient demand is still increasing year on year. We need…
Miscommunication- Alison’s Story
Alison’s breast cancer story shows how miscommunication has a long-lasting impact on emotional well-being and perception of care. Here’s Alison’s story and what she wants patients and healthcare professionals to learn from it. Alison’s Story Reflecting on the experience of my breast cancer diagnosis, I…
Preparing for online consultations
The NHS has been preparing to embed online consultations in primary care (GP surgeries) for some time (1). This is because online access helps meet the demands of the population. More people attend GP practices, and yet we have fewer GP’s. But the COVID-19 pandemic…
Preparing for Difficult Conversations
Preparing for difficult conversations with others is key. This blog will be helpful for healthcare professionals and a much wider audience. Additionally, patients and family members may also benefit from reading this blog. Sharing bad news or difficult information with patients and their families is…