Essential Consultant Skills for Primary Care

Effective communication is the key to successful diagnosis and treatment in primary care and yet, little importance is placed on this during training.

A large proportion of the time of primary care staff - including GPs, nurses and health visitors - is spent in consultation with patients.

It is, therefore, of vital importance that they understand the impact of the way in which the interview is carried out. With the awareness that it is more appropriate for many patients to be seen by a counsellor rather than be treated with anxiolitics and antidepressants, there is a move towards the use of counsellors in the primary care setting.

This has emphasized the need for further education in communication skills and highlighted how effective a well-managed consultation can be. This volume gives advice on the most effective ways of conducting consultations, with hints on how to put patients at their ease, ask questions and deal with emotional or sensitive issues. The book takes a practical look at management in consultation, and covers potentially difficult situations, such as dealing with emotionally charged issues, situations in which there are more than one person in a consultation, discussing sexual problems and talking to young people.