The doctor-patient relationship is another casualty of NHS backlogs

UK doctors are increasingly telling us at the Medical Defence Union (MDU) that pressures on the NHS are eroding the doctor-patient relationship that is so essential for good medical care. In the face of long waiting times for appointments, tests, and elective care, patients’ frustrations are often spilling over into their interactions with healthcare professionals. It has become more common, for instance, for a doctor to spend several minutes of a consultation calming down a disappointed patient and apologising for things that are outside a clinician’s control. This situation isn’t good for patients, who then have less time to discuss their health and receive care, or for healthcare professionals, who feel demoralised and dissatisfied on behalf of their patients.These system pressures are likely to be one factor behind the steep rise in written complaints about the NHS in England.1 Between 2020-21 and 2021-22, complaints about primary care increased by 33…
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