Australian Doctor Australian Doctor 12 May 2017 | Page 31

This Week
QUOTES OF
THE WEEK
PIC
OF THE
WEEK
US A set of triplets have
had surgery to cure all
three of them of a rare skull
deformity. Jackson, Hunter
and Kaden Howard were
born with craniosynostosis.
The condition can lead to
vision loss and limited brain
growth. The boys underwent
simultaneous skull surgery at
nine weeks of age at Stony
Brook Children’s Hospital in
New York. Five months later,
they’re hitting key milestones
and are just as lively and
energetic as any six-month-
olds.
“$75,000 to
pay back the
taxpayer who
paid for them
to become a
doctor is not
outrageous.”
Photo: Stony Brook Medicine
Deputy Prime Minister
Barnaby Joyce defends a
decision to force graduates
to repay their loans early.
Good isn’t enough, GPs need to be nice too
I’VE no doubt my old mate Steve is a good
doctor, but whether he is a ‘nice’ doctor is
a moot point.
Having once shared a house with him,
I know him to be thoughtful, bright and
absolutely dedicated to his vocation.
But he’s also taciturn and can be
embarrassingly blunt to those who don’t
know him well.
I’m sure I’d be in safe hands if Steve was
my treating doctor, but a new report from
the UK suggests that he might get a low-
quality rating from many patients using the
National Health Service feedback system.
Published in the BMJ Open journal,
the report analyses almost a quarter of a
million comments left by patients — mostly
about GPs — via the NHS Choices portal.
It finds that patients are overwhelmingly
positive about their healthcare experiences
and rate doctors highly (87% positive) in
terms of technical competence.
GPs and their staff also rate well for
communication skills (77% positive)
Journal
Talk
Michael Woodhead
but really fall down the rankings when it
comes to interpersonal skills (44% positive
experience) and in terms of their systems
and organisation (41% satisfaction).
What this means in practice is that some
patients love their GP clinics for simple
things, such as knowing their name and
not being afraid to smile and have a joke
with patients (“which goes a long way to
helping relieve nerves”, commented one
patient).
Unsurprisingly, patients also appreciate
GPs who have a good ‘bedside manner’
and take the time to listen and explain
things. The flipside to this is that many
patients say the doctor and/or their staff
appear dismissive, lack courtesy and don’t
appear willing to listen.
“I find them so rude, and their lethargic
attitude annoys me”, said one patient.
But even when doctors and staff were
‘nice’, their practices were negatively rated
because of poor appointment booking
systems, long waiting times or frustrating
telephone answering experiences.
“Great doctors, great facilities but awful
appointment service and opening hours!”
was one comment.
Dr Gavin Brookes, a primary care
researcher from the University of
Nottingham, who co-authored the report,
said it revealed that doctors and patients
had different standards on quality of
care.
While doctors might tick all the boxes on
technical standards, communications skills
and “shared decision-making”, they could
still fall down on the “soft” interpersonal
skills.
“Such skills might be developed more
effectively through greater opportunity for
hands-on human engagement,” he wrote.
But even Dr Brookes acknowledged that
the daunting financial and time pressures
GPs faced might have a lot to do with the
perceived poor interpersonal skills and
clunky practice systems.
BMJ 2017; online.
SNAPSHOT
THE PRICE OF PREGNANCY
saw a conventional
healthcare practitioner
49.4 %
saw a complementary/
alternative practitioner
On average,
out-of-pocket
spending was:
$781
on consultations with
conventional practitioners
$185
on consultations
with complementary/
alternative practitioners
used complementary/
alternative products
$180
on complementary/
alternative products
Reference: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2017, online.
“You do what
you have to do
to get by. For
me, that was
painkillers, you
know? And
sleeping pills,
generally.”
“The financial
benefits of
being a practice
owner are being
eroded. Red
tape is driving
a lot of GPs to
distraction.”
If extrapolated,
pregnant
Australians in
one year spend:
$230 million
on conventional consultations
$55 million
on complementary/
alternative consultations
89.6 %
Federal MP George
Christensen celebrates
after having 85% of his
stomach removed in a bid
to lose weight.
Australian basketball
great Lauren Jackson
reveals her “nightmare”
of prescription drug
dependency to cope
with performing as an
international sports star.
A study of almost 2000 Australian women has revealed that about half consulted
with a complementary or alternative medicine practitioner during pregnancy.
99.8 %
“It’s radical, but
good health is
worth it, and I
have not been the
picture of good
health in a long
time.”
Perth GP and practice
owner Dr Sean Stevens
responds to a MABEL study
that shows GP practice
ownership is in decline.
$53 million
on complementary/
alternative products
NC
www.australiandoctor.com.au
12 May 2017 | Australian Doctor |
31