Introduction
For a medical practitioner, communication can often be deceptively challenging in ways that most people may not even realise. After all, doctors communicate with people all day, every day. Communication is central to the job of the doctor. They communicate with other members of their team, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, other and other hospital around them.
All of these professionals share a common bond which is the shared language of medicine if you will. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten when the doctor is speaking to his or her patient. Physicians forget that the patient does not share the same understanding they do; they have not received the same training as the doctor. In addition to this lack of knowledge, they are possibly suffering from an unknown or untreated medical condition and maybe be frightened, anxious or in pain. These factors can make the communication between doctor and patient even more difficult. Issues with communication in medical practice are both important and common. For example, physicians do not elicit 54% of patient complaints and 45% of patient concerns .
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The Calman-Hine Report served to outline the importance of good communication between medical professionals and patients stating ‘Individual perceptions of needs may differ from those of the professionals’ . It is important to keep a patient centered approach when breaking the news of an oncological diagnosis. ‘Thus, the principles of breaking bad news to patients with a poor prognosis