The outer consultation: additional factors affecting the doctor-patient relationship

Introduction Background Outer consultation Social pressures on the patientEconomic pressures on the patientPolitical pressures on the patient Social pressures on the medical practitionerEconomic pressures on the medical practitionerPolitical pressures on the medical practitionerConclusionReferences Introduction During my 2018 yearly appraisal, my appraiser suggested I review my patient consultation technique to see whether this could be improved. To do this, I recapped on what I already knew from 42 years as a medical practitioner and also took an online course called €œimproving communication skills,€ which is a comprehensive and instructive review of different consultation techniques.1  We all know that good communication during a consultation leads to better outcomes for both