Book Review: Communication for Doctors — How to Improve Patient Care and Minimize Legal Risks

Abstract

Communication in medicine is an interesting topic at many levels and this subject is very pertinent today as the skill of communication is now given much more emphasis within foundation medical training in Britain. Communication for Doctors is a North Atlantic book and the use of American English may obscure, for some, the very useful observations and narratives related to medical communication. The language, coupled with the plain format does little to entice the reader to sample the many interesting facts and observations in each chapter. My most recent experience of the medical profession indicates that communication with patients is a huge area of discontent. The recent experience of using nurse consultants within National Health Service (NHS) community services alongside general practitioners indicates that people value the extra time that nurses can give them, to talk and listen. All the contributors use an essay-type approach, which seems curious for a book on communication. This style often lessens the message the writers are trying to convey. It also requires the reader to trawl through the text, making it difficult for readers with restricted time to grasp the overall message. However, despite the format, many of the essays are very readable and pertinent to the very real requirement for doctors to communicate effectively with their patients, whatever the patient's ability with the written and verbal word. John Garland's contribution related to recognizing and avoiding non-verbal cues that doctors give to their patients, highlights that in America, 21% of native-born adults cannot read a newspaper front page, and that 48% of adults cannot read a timetable. This startling set of facts ought to give adequate warning signals to doctors to adjust their communication style. Mark Houchausers article on the mystery of language is similarly fascinating. His review of the most frequently used words in reports is linked to the words' 'understandability'. His point that patients might be able to read the words on their medical reports, but not be able to understand them, is a point well made. Overall, this book is an easy book to 'dip' into and some of the subject matter is fascinating. However, some of the presentation factors such as the lack of a clear chapter system reduce the usefulness of the book as a means of communication itself.