The Clin Comm Podcast

Episode 9. Empathy in healthcare

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2187097/open_sms] We know patients prefer being looked after by health professionals with empathy – in simple terms the ability to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. But it’s not just a “nice to have”;  there’s growing evidence that empathy is also linked to better clinical outcomes. So what is the latest evidence about empathy in healthcare? Can anyone learn to be empathic – and if so, how can we train the doctors of the future to be more empathic? Are empathic health professionals more – or less -  likely to burnout? Guest: Dr Andy Ward,  an academic GP and Associate Professor in Medical Education at Leicester Medical School. Andy has been leading communication skills teaching at Leicester for 16 years, and is a senior member of the newly launched Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare.   Presenter: Prof Graham Easton Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare: https://le.ac.uk/empathy [https://le.ac.uk/empathy]

Episode 8: Risk Communication in Covid (with Sir David Spiegelhalter)

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2187097/open_sms] This episode is all about communicating about risks and statistics, [first broadcast during the Covid pandemic]. When you’re talking to patients – in the consulting room, on the phone, or perhaps even on the radio or TV - how do you explain the sensitivity and specificity of a test, confidence intervals, or the benefits and risks of taking the Covid vaccine? Should we use analogies, and what about relative versus absolute risk? Our expert guest offers practical tips. [First broadcast April 10th, 2021]   With guest statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter,  Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winton_Professorship_of_the_Public_Understanding_of_Risk] at the University of Cambridge [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Cambridge], who appeared regularly in the media and advising the government throughout the pandemic

Episode 7: The Future of GP Consultations: Covid and beyond (with Dr Roger Neighbour)

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2187097/open_sms] How has the GP consultation changed during the turmoil of Covid - and what might it look like in the future for GPs and their patients? Where will the balance lie between remote and face-to-face consultations, and is there a danger of general practice becoming call centre medicine? Whether remote or not, how can GPs stay patient-centred in the modern time-strapped consultation?  With guest Dr Roger Neighbour, consultation expert and former president of Royal College of GPs. [First broadcast January 19th, 2021] Presenter: Prof Graham Easton

Episode 6: Vaccine Hesitancy conversations [motivational interviewing, with Prof Stephen Rollnick]

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2187097/open_sms] In this episode we explore how to have helpful and effective conversations with people who are hesitant to take a Covid vaccine [or any other vaccine]. We focus on Motivational Interviewing - a hugely influential and evidence-based counselling approach that health professionals use to help people change unhelpful behaviours.   [First broadcast January 14th, 2021]   Guests: Stephen Rollnick - a clinical psychologist and Honorary Distinguished Professor in the School of Medicine in Cardiff University, Wales, UK. Prof Rollnick has long been interested in the issue of vaccine hesitancy. He was also a co-developer of motivational interviewing. His daughter, Maya Rollnick [a medical student], also contributes.   Presenter: Prof Graham Easton

Episode 5: Supporting medical students who volunteered during Covid

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2187097/open_sms] When Covid ambushed our lives back in March 2020, hundreds – even thousands – of medical, dental and physician associate students volunteered to support the National Health Service in whatever way they could. For most this was in at the very deep end –new skills and new responsibilities - but on top of that, the extra human burdens of being a health worker in a pandemic. All the guests in this episode were involved in setting up an exciting and innovative programme to support these students at Barts and The London Medical School, called Connecting Practice. It was designed to promote students’ wellbeing and minimise the emotional impact of the work they were doing.   [First broadcast November 23rd, 2020]   Guests: Lucy Marks (independent consultant Psychologist); Megan Annetts (medical student and former BLSA president); Benjamin Koetsier (Medical student and participant in CP); Harvey Wells (lecturer in Clinical Communication)   Presenter: Prof Graham Easton