Sam Mauger: Improving diagnosis for patient safety

Patient safety is critical to keeping patient trust. But perhaps the slogan Get it Right, make it safe, should start with Get Involved. How much time does any physician have to get to know the patient in the pressured environment today. Yet it is the patient that can unlock the best approach to their diagnosis and enable you the Physician decide the best treatment. We have grown used to a “one item” GP appointment, and yet health is often not that conveniently pigeon-holed with many older adults in particular living with multiple conditions “More than one in four of the adult population in England lives with two or more conditions” according to NIHR[1]

Some charities, for example Rethink Mental Health now actively encourage people to prepare for their visit to a health care professional. This is good advice, and will enable the patient and carer to ensure they use the time allocated to give fulsome information to help diagnosis.

Often patients can be so delighted they have actually managed to achieve an appointment, that in the moment they can forget to detail the extent of the symptoms they are living with. Encouragement to better prepare would be beneficial for all of us and could be encouraged as a call to action for patients attending a surgery or clinic.

Aside from patient preparation, there is the other part of the equation, and that is being able to actively listen to what the patient is saying. Often a health condition is not isolated from what is happening in the rest of a patient’s life, whether this is the stress of working, living with a condition, or managing difficult circumstances such as debt or relationship problems. Add to this for some is living in poor housing conditions, navigating digital inclusion or living on limited income.

Any combination of these can impact on health outcomes and further impact on what may happen post diagnosis. How much time do physicians have to hear how the health condition of a patient is being impacted by stress or their housing condition, and even if they do, what can they do about it? Perhaps at least be able to build enough trust with the patient so they will follow a treatment pattern and attend clinics. Health is a two-way journey between patient and physician, both need to prepare and both need to listen and get involved.