Helen Salisbury: Other presences in the consulting room

It isn’t unusual for a third person to be in the room when I’m consulting. It may be a partner, friend, parent, or adult offspring of the patient, or on occasion it’s a whole family, with children of various ages perched along my examination couch. People are brought in for moral support, as an extra pair of ears, or, in the case of children, because there’s no one else to look after them while a parent attends to their own medical needs.Dividing your attention appropriately—keeping the focus on the patient while not ignoring relatives’ contributions, as well as being ready to curtail the exploration of your cupboards by younger children—is a skill that takes time to learn. I do sometimes ask relatives to remove themselves to the waiting room so that I can ask questions a patient might find hard to answer in front of others—for example, about sex, suicidal…
Read Original Article: Helen Salisbury: Other presences in the consulting room »