Intended for healthcare professionals

Letters Being a good doctor

Good communication reduces risk of a complaint or claim

BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6160 (Published 28 October 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l6160
  1. Pallavi Bradshaw, medicolegal lead, risk prevention
  1. Medical Protection Society, London SE1 9SG, UK
  1. suzi.salleh{at}medicalprotection.org

Chen is right to point out the importance of empathy in being a good doctor.1 Empathy is fundamental to good communication. The Medical Protection Society’s experiences consistently show that patient dissatisfaction with their doctor’s way of communicating fuels most complaints. A 2017 YouGov survey we commissioned of more than 2000 British adults found that 82% …

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