The test

by Colin Campbell on 30/06/20 18:00

The biggest test for me in my clinical practice is the new consultation.

Because of the circumstances at the present time I’m doing a lot of those and meeting a lot of new people for first time appointments.

Two recent ones are particularly good examples of why these are important and what might be going on.

The first one, last week was a person who’s very successful in business having built their own ‘empire’.

To come and see me is to put their trust in someone else and to be outside of their comfort zone and out of control.

That is a very important situation to understand at the very outset otherwise it is likely to go very wrong.

In the first instance in these types of consultations you must demonstrate your competency and your confidence and your ability to look after the individual involved.

You must give them some power to make the decision but retain control of your own treatment area and not be dictated to going down a rabbit hole of wrong treatment that you don’t intend to.

Finally, you have to be able to ‘let it go’.

If the person in front of you is not willing to accept your authority as a treating Clinician while entering into a shared decision making process then it’s better that they find someone else with which they are more comfortable and that takes enormous bravery particularly at times like this.

The next individual is one whom I saw yesterday who feels it is very important to let you know their credentials within healthcare.

There is a slightly different situation there again but one in which it important to ensure the patient feels listened to but also where they know what the rules are for safe treatment within your own environment.

Both of these individuals take an extremely long time to treat and to communicate with and have expectations which are high, and which will not be compromised.

In an independent practice environment that type of treatment is expensive to provide and therefore expensive to source.

When you find that you’re going to spend an extraordinary amount of time with someone it’s worth having the honest conversation with them before you start otherwise not only is the communication liable to go downhill but you are liable to resent the individual who sits in front of you for ‘stealing’ your time.

Blog Post Number - 2415

So we also have a podcast ..... (4)