Two Fairy/Ghost stories written and read by me. Just available on Audible. April 2023
Sent: 09 October 2021 00:31
To: peter.spud@gmail.com
Subject: Bedside Matters
Dear Peter
My name is ............, and I am an academic GP currently working in Canada. I am writing just to let you know that I recently read your book Bedside Matters, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very impressed by your work. I felt compelled to write to you as much of what is in your book has really resonated with me.
I got my medical degree in the UK and then did my General Practice Vocational Training Scheme in north London before working in the NHS in south London and then subsequently up to Edinburgh. I am now working in an academic department of family medicine in Canada, and my main area of interest is teaching on the consultation. I still struggle with finding the best ways to try and impart this central competency to our GP registrars, known here as family medicine residents, and share many of the frustrations that you describe so well in your book.
Along the way I have been heavily influenced by your work with Pendleton et al, plus Roger Neighbour, Ian McWhinney, Moira Stewart et al, John Salinsky, Balint and of course your own work as a solo author. I have read and re-read The Doctor's Communication Handbook, having collected several editions which I eagerly donate to my registrars to read each year. The other hat that I wear is with the College of Family Physicians of Canada and this is regarding trying to develop a valid summative assessment tool on consultation skills. We used to have a tool resembling your Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) called the Simulated Office Oral, but COVID has since blown that out of the water. I note that RCGP has gone back to video assessment for the time being, which you had originally pioneered back in the day (I just missed that by the way, I am a product of the old oral exam when I did my MRCGP in the early 90s).
I have a big interest in the Medical Humanities and the History of Medicine, which is partly why I think Bedside Matters was such a great read for me, particularly the narrative you weave describing your efforts to bring consultation skills and the patient-centred approach into medical education and assessment for general practice, and how that has fitted into how general practice has evolved as a specialty in its own right over the years.
All this to say, I was fascinated by your engrossing and entertaining account of how over the years you have managed to put and keep consultation skills and patient-centredness at the heart of the RCGP curriculum, despite the many obstacles and challenges. I found myself identifying with many of your struggles with this, but also was very inspired by your successes. I do worry very much about the state of the consultation and its place in family medicine particularly in this current state of affairs with the COVID pandemic changing the way we interface with our patients. I think the biggest take home message is what has always remained central to all of your writings on the consultation-the importance of really being interested in your patients as people and always remaining curious. So just to thank you for all of your contributions to general practice, for writing such a wonderful memoir, and keeping me inspired to continue working towards keeping the consultation front and centre in family medicine education!
With kind regards and all the best in your well-deserved retirement
Name witheld
Humane and thought-provoking
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2020
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book. It is written in a beautifully conversational style, which much of the time felt like the author was sitting there talking directly to me. It made me laugh out loud on occasions and provoked much serious thought and reflection. Along the way it provided an excellent overview of the concepts that underpin Peter Tate’s seminal work on doctor-patient communication (health beliefs, loci of control, doctors’ unique ‘styles’ etc.). Medicine in the UK has been undergoing a seismic shift in recent decades, haltingly moving towards a situation where the doctor is no longer the ‘benign paternalist’ dispensing professional wisdom, but is instead the patient’s ‘expert ally’, helping make sense of, weigh, and navigate the plethora of medical information now available to us. Peter Tate has been at the forefront of catalyzing this change. ‘Bedside Matters’ gives a unique insight into the character and mind of the man who has done so much to make modern medicine truly patient-centred.
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 December 2020
This is a great read in a conversational style. I guess it will be most be appreciated by GP's and retired GP's like me.
It is actually four books in one. There is an autobiography of the author and that adds great colour to the whole book. Then there is the history of the development of the consultation as a teachable art form , some personal learning experiences and lastly a history of the MRCGP exam. If this happens to be the first book of Peter's you have or will read then it could be considered a taster. I wholeheartedly recommend his other his works
From Keith Baxby, Renal surgeon (We were at med school together but have not met for 50 years)
Despite my carping about the cost, my copy arrived 3 days ago, and I have dipped into it quite a bit. If I had my time again I would make the same career choice, but this is the second time I have read a book which helps me understand why General Practice could be so rewarding - though it would not have been so for me: I am congenitally ill-equipped to deal with the uncertainty. A kidney transplant, which involved sewing against the clock at 3am (they always happened at 3am in those days, for specific reasons) was a piece of cake compared to a Monday morning surgery. The last section of reflections makes thought-provoking, and often harrowing, reading. There is a lot of humour - as Peter says, much of it of the black sort that doctors develop. I might quote one example when I have recharged my phone
Here endeth the entirely unsolicited advert.
An example of the humour in Peter's book:
He was Ship's Surgeon (aged 25!) on a P&O liner with 1,500 passengers. A crew member presented with smallpox. The Captain had to be told, at 7am. The Surgeon suggested the Captain poured himself a gin before hearing the news.; the Captain said he never drank at that time of day and no news could be bad enough to make him do so. "I said we had a case of smallpox on board and he asked if I would like a gin too".
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2020
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed this book. It is written in a beautifully conversational style, which much of the time felt like the author was sitting there talking directly to me. It made me laugh out loud on occasions and provoked much serious thought and reflection. Along the way it provided an excellent overview of the concepts that underpin Peter Tate’s seminal work on doctor-patient communication (health beliefs, loci of control, doctors’ unique ‘styles’ etc.). Medicine in the UK has been undergoing a seismic shift in recent decades, haltingly moving towards a situation where the doctor is no longer the ‘benign paternalist’ dispensing professional wisdom, but is instead the patient’s ‘expert ally’, helping make sense of, weigh, and navigate the plethora of medical information now available to us. Peter Tate has been at the forefront of catalyzing this change. ‘Bedside Matters’ gives a unique insight into the character and mind of the man who has done so much to make modern medicine truly patient-centred.
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 December 2020
This is a great read in a conversational style. I guess it will be most be appreciated by GP's and retired GP's like me.
It is actually four books in one. There is an autobiography of the author and that adds great colour to the whole book. Then there is the history of the development of the consultation as a teachable art form , some personal learning experiences and lastly a history of the MRCGP exam. If this happens to be the first book of Peter's you have or will read then it could be considered a taster. I wholeheartedly recommend his other his works
From Keith Baxby, Renal surgeon (We were at med school together but have not met for 50 years)
Despite my carping about the cost, my copy arrived 3 days ago, and I have dipped into it quite a bit. If I had my time again I would make the same career choice, but this is the second time I have read a book which helps me understand why General Practice could be so rewarding - though it would not have been so for me: I am congenitally ill-equipped to deal with the uncertainty. A kidney transplant, which involved sewing against the clock at 3am (they always happened at 3am in those days, for specific reasons) was a piece of cake compared to a Monday morning surgery. The last section of reflections makes thought-provoking, and often harrowing, reading. There is a lot of humour - as Peter says, much of it of the black sort that doctors develop. I might quote one example when I have recharged my phone
Here endeth the entirely unsolicited advert.
An example of the humour in Peter's book:
He was Ship's Surgeon (aged 25!) on a P&O liner with 1,500 passengers. A crew member presented with smallpox. The Captain had to be told, at 7am. The Surgeon suggested the Captain poured himself a gin before hearing the news.; the Captain said he never drank at that time of day and no news could be bad enough to make him do so. "I said we had a case of smallpox on board and he asked if I would like a gin too".
Bedside Matters
A Journey Through Doctor ̶Patient Communication
By
Peter Tate
Francesca Frame
Copyright Year 2021
Paperback
£29.99
This unique book draws upon a collection of essays and personal reflections by Dr Peter Tate, covering at least half a century of his experience of trying to understand, define and improve communication between doctors and patients. Adopting a light, conversational and often humorous tone, the book covers a broad range of situations encountered during the lead author’s career as a general practitioner, his seminal research into understanding doctor-patient communication, and his subsequent role in both teaching and developing the internationally-recognised Royal College of General Practice’s membership video examination. This book demonstrates that clinical experiences, both professional and personal, are fundamental to our perception of what is important and what matters most in medicine.
Key features:
The author:
Peter Tate is a retired General Practitioner, UK
With editorial contributions from:
Francesca Frame, a General Practitioner based in Cambridgeshire, UK
Introduction
A Journey Through Doctor ̶Patient Communication
By
Peter Tate
Francesca Frame
Copyright Year 2021
Paperback
£29.99
This unique book draws upon a collection of essays and personal reflections by Dr Peter Tate, covering at least half a century of his experience of trying to understand, define and improve communication between doctors and patients. Adopting a light, conversational and often humorous tone, the book covers a broad range of situations encountered during the lead author’s career as a general practitioner, his seminal research into understanding doctor-patient communication, and his subsequent role in both teaching and developing the internationally-recognised Royal College of General Practice’s membership video examination. This book demonstrates that clinical experiences, both professional and personal, are fundamental to our perception of what is important and what matters most in medicine.
Key features:
- Unique and personal account of the development of this vital but often overlooked aspect of medicine
- Engaging and light-hearted, yet academically rigorous
- Draws on experiences gathered during clinical practice, research and teaching
- From the authors of the popular The Doctor’s Communication Handbook, now in its eighth edition
The author:
Peter Tate is a retired General Practitioner, UK
With editorial contributions from:
Francesca Frame, a General Practitioner based in Cambridgeshire, UK
Introduction