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On July 18th 2001, the Report of the
Public Enquiry into children's heart surgery at the Bristol Royal
Infirmary was finally published. The report and its annexes run into
12,000 pages. There are 198 recommendations reflecting the patients
journey.
Recommendation 3 of the Public
Inquiry Report states:-
"The notion of partnership
between the healthcare professional and the patient, whereby the
patient and the professional meet as equals with different
expertise, must be adopted by healthcare professionals in all parts
of the NHS, including healthcare professionals in hospitals."
Where a patient is a vulnerable
child, it is clear that a partnership between the health care
professional and the parent(s), based on mutual respect, needs to be
established. For any parent with a child who has a potentially life
threatening condition the journey from diagnosis to outcome is a
hazardous one fraught with uncertainty and risk. Parents have to
make decisions always in the best interests of their child and they
need the advice of compassionate, competent and expert clinicians to
journey alongside them.
Recommendation 59 of the Public
Inquiry Report states:-
"Education in communication
skills must be an essential part of the education of all healthcare
professionals. Communication skills include the ability to engage
with patients on an emotional level, to listen, to assess how much
information a patient wants to know, and to convey information with
clarity and sympathy."
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