Trust is a cornerstone of effective and compassionate healthcare delivery and is vital for:
🛠️ building strong patient-provider relationships
💊 promoting adherence to treatment plans
💡ensuring informed decision-making
🤐 maintaining confidentiality
🚀 delivering high-quality care
👏 and supporting overall health and well-being
💬 What could improve your trust in healthcare providers? Please share or explain your experiences that have shaped your opinion if you are comfortable.
Providers need to look at the individual and stop judging and assessing before they even talk to the patient. From working with clinicians and providers, I know firsthand that their first impression is what sticks with them. Once they "see" an issue, such as weight, its game over. That is their diagnosis no matter what.
The whole health system needs to get rid of insurance formularies and scales such as BMI. To minimize individual differences is an injustice to the patient, especially when prescribing.
I also do not blame the individual doctors for the issues of lack of patient care and patient trusting the doctor. ACO, medical centers and such push doctors to see way too many patients in a short amount of time. There is no way they can establish a relationship with the patient. We all feel like we are on an assembly line being looked at and passed on.
Thank you Bassetmommer for sharing you thoughts on improving trust with healthcare providers.
To have the facility to actually communicate with them without wasting an enormous amount of time and effort, giving up, and then finally being forced to visit someone privately.
Everything listed here are great points that one would think go without saying but 2023 and here we are. I believe I speak for many, too many too often are breached and make for bad relationships that sometimes can’t be recovered. Instead of seeking more to break seek to resolve these listed and thereby solve a host of issues.
HI
TRUST.. Where is it when I had a stroke with AF and there is no followup!
The physiotherapy knew I had breathlessness on walking up her stairs in the ward.
Not following day - I had a shadow on my thyroid which was discovered by scanner. I was referred internally and I was forgotten about. I oked a biopsy whilst in hospital. I had to ring outpatients all the way.
I felt there was something wrong with system.
Even the Endocrinologist prescribed Metoprolol when I said NO IT WILL MAKE ME BREATHLESS. My H/R was 187 avge.
1 year 3 mths later demanding a heart specialist changed me to another BB.
But 9 mths later this one still did not control a H/R of 156 avge.
I changed to a private H/Spec who put me on CCB Diltiazem. H/R fell 105bpm.
The public service did not do me the best service.
So at 2 years 3 months I finally was controlled of my Rapid, Persistent AF.
I had my Thyroid out plus 12 lymphs where 2 infected with Papillary cancer finally at 4 mths as my file was out and missed seeing an anaesthetist helper nurse in my local area. Forgotten again.
We need to feel that we are being looked after and not forgotten and we need to be heard.
cheers JOY. 74. (NZ)
Being forgotten about would have certainly had an impact on how you trust healthcare providers. I am glad that you were finally able to control your AF.
Healthcare providers should build a strong trust with their patients. Treatment should be individualized and thorough. Due not be quick in giving medications because you think it will work for everyone. They should always be patient with their patients.
Listening would be a starter+not treating me as an ignoramus because I'm not medically trained - but it's my body were discussing+my health is more important to me than you. My Levo was reduced because GP would not listen (3 GPs). This resulted in severe constipation +diverticulitis, no matter what I did to alleviate the situation. Pain got so bad I went back to GP but saw nurse instead. Was sent to local hospital to Surgical Assessment Unit+there Registrar did not Listen either. Ended up with unnecessary CT scan. Everything - pain, distension etc, was due with levo being far too Low. Took things into my own hands, upped my Levo+everything settled down. Listen to the patient! They have vital info that drs/nurses need!!!
In 2016 I had a lot of blockages in my suprapubic catheter. Then I found a way of preventing them. In 2019 I wrote up a three-year study testing the method. During this study three hospital consultants were involved. Two diagnosed bladder stones, the other kidney stones. All recommended that I should have hospital tests. Together with the locum who diagnosed emergency admission for suspected septicaemia, that makes four medical practitioners willing to guess a diagnosis in the absence of evidence, all of them wrong. I contacted one of them and sent him an earlier version of the paper: he showed no interest. The other three were surrounded by gatekeepers and means of preventing patients making contact. The paper is available at dailystrength.org/user/prof... Preventing Urinary Tract Infections and Catheter Blockages
Well given Covid is still circulating and killing people but Drs and nurses aren’t wearing masks, and aren’t kicking up a fuss about the lack of air filters in hospitals, why would I trust them with other areas of my health?
If they don’t understand Covid and Long Covid and don’t try to help colleagues and patients avoid catching it, they aren’t much of a doctor.
Other things they could do to build trust: Reading your notes before you see them. Maybe having a brief summary sheet because my notes are loooong.
Looking back at your test results over time. Every time my consultant says ‘bloods all fine’ I respond with ‘but they aren’t normal for me - x,y.z has increased/ decreased over the last 3 blood tests’.
Liaising with other consultants about other areas of your health to make sure medication they want to prescribe won’t affect other illnesses.
Explaining why. If someone explaines why I’m doing well I trust them. If they explain why they want me to have a test/medication, what the risks are and the benefits and why they think I should, I’m more likely to trust their judgement. If they are just following protocol without knowing why I don’t trust them. If they are willing to get a second opinion I trust them.
Listening to and and showing that they address my concerns by telling me what action they have taken, then Ill trust them.
Doctors/consultants have to listen!I saw my consultant last week and I received the copy of the letter that he's sent to the GP!
Well, I don't know if he's got his patients mixed up, but what he has written is most certainly not what I had to say to him!
I'm totally fed up with the NHS, it wastes so much money and does not much to help the patients.
I'm disabled, my life is in their hands & I just don't trust any of them anymore.
It is as simple as that - no trust.
Hello DENZ01 I am sorry to hear of you experience, that must have been really frustrating for you.
Hi Denz, I got a copy of a GP’s letter from my consultant and it had someone else’s details. Took me three months to get it corrected on my records. The GPs were quite shocked and the hospital very apologetic. If you’re not happy with it, phone the Consultants secretary and say that it doesn’t sound like the conversation you had. Mine had been typed by a casual member of staff they were using to clear a backlog. ‘Copy details from previous’ had been misinterpreted. They’d copied details from the previous letter they’d typed instead of the previous letter on my file. Definite breach of GDPR…
Hello Thank you very much for reading my post.
I am going to definitely be phoning the consultant’s secretary.
I haven't done anything about it yet, I have just been feeling a bit worn down by the whole system.
But, I will definitely come out fighting, I'm actually thinking about reporting everything that's going on to the General Medical Council, everything has become a bit of a joke! But,I am not laughing, this is my life they're playing about with & I am absolutely disgusted!
(Other things have happened in the interim, which I will share at a later date).
I just find this very tiresome.
Anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to message me 😊
Hope that you have a great weekend and I will post what's happening soon 😊 xx
Listening to the patient would help, as would making some effort to make sure the patient can hear you. I'm deaf and it should be all over my notes yet its still 'We'll call you back.." I cannot phone my GP because their phone system is set up to hang up on UK Relay calls, in person I cannot hear the receptionist because there is no hearing loop, can't email them, can't send a text, its all meaningless dictatorial little 'do not reply' messages from them which are a waste of time and money - for example go to the local pharmacy and get your blood pressure checked - but the pharmacy won't do it because I am on blood pressure medication - 3 texts a month for over a year but will they book me a blood pressure check? no way !! "We have declined your prescription request, this does not need ordering from the surgery." every month, yet I'm on repeat meds for life... I've even made the 11 k round journey trip to the surgery to see what this is about and was told to ignore it. I get Well+ to deliver my medication to save my sanity. NHS no better - no hearing loops, masks worn, radio on, rain on windows, lots of other background noises but staff far too busy and self important to repeat themselves, don't have email, claim to have a textphone number - but I wouldn't know if it works, textphones are no longer made and I don't have a landline. They are just awful! Complaining gets you nowhere, probably I'm on some blacklist by now but I'm not the only one who is struggling so I am going to keep at it. I really have constant difficulties and they are completely ignored. I say "I'm sorry, I'm deaf" ( why feel have to apologise I don't know) and immediately its *eyeroll* , turn back, walk away, mutter something.... shout when asked to repeat themselves, tutting, irritable sighs, slow exaggerated speech like they're talking to a moron .....even audiology do it.... over the years it builds up. Gonna take a lot to change that attitude.
Listening would be a great start! I went to A&E post RTA unable to weight bare on my left leg and couldn't even get an xray! I presented myself to A&E another 3 times in the year or so that followed and again no xray or scan. I went to the GP tones of times over the 8 years that followed and no one would believe me something was seriously wrong. I was eventually referred to ortho where i turned up to find i was seeing a physio who looked at my hip but took no interest in my back.
Thankfully not long after that i changed jobs and that came with private healthcare (pretty rare in the UK), phoned the insurance, got an ortho referral which was very quickly changed to a neuro referral when they realised my spine was the issue. Seen the neurologist within 2 weeks who was horrified that with my symptoms I had never been scanned. Got an MRI which showed quite significant damage to my spine and now arthritis apparently my spine looks like that of an 80 year old and i was only 33 then! Very likely the accident caused the original damage which due to severity of the arthritis is now inoperable. Had the Dr in A&E followed protocol and done an xray with possible scan follow up the agony i now live in day to day for the rest of my life could have been prevented.
Sadly i suspect my weight was to blame and even more sad is this is not the only incident. I have PCOS, have had symptoms since my teens, was told all sorts up to and including "your body just wants a baby" was eventually diagnosed at 33, its now far too late to save my fertility not that I was ever interested anyway but thats why no one would help me, i wasn't having problems conceiving because i don't want kids therefore why would PCOS be a problem? When i piled on weight likely due to it they still didn't care. My testosterone is so high it couldn't be accurately measured but no one has ever followed up with me to see if medication is helping (it's not but does help another condition i have so i keep taking it).
My platelets were high for well over a year before the GP did anything about it despite that being a massive red flag for cancer when there is no other known cause which in my case there is not. My haematologist is fantastic and has actually been more helpful in managing my pain than anyone else ever has been.
Drs dont take me seriously because I'm young (ish), fat and female. My male partner had an attack of sciatica and got tramadol no questions asked but i wait 8 years for a scan which i had to go private for and only then get pain relief that even touches the pain. Why would i trust them?
Listening would be a great start! I went to A&E post RTA unable to weight bare on my left leg and couldn't even get an xray! I presented myself to A&E another 3 times in the year or so that followed and again no xray or scan. I went to the GP tones of times over the 8 years that followed and no one would believe me something was seriously wrong. I was eventually referred to ortho where i turned up to find i was seeing a physio who looked at my hip but took no interest in my back.
Thankfully not long after that i changed jobs and that came with private healthcare (pretty rare in the UK), phoned the insurance, got an ortho referral which was very quickly changed to a neuro referral when they realised my spine was the issue. Seen the neurologist within 2 weeks who was horrified that with my symptoms I had never been scanned. Got an MRI which showed quite significant damage to my spine and now arthritis apparently my spine looks like that of an 80 year old and i was only 33 then! Very likely the accident caused the original damage which due to severity of the arthritis is now inoperable. Had the Dr in A&E followed protocol and done an xray with possible scan follow up the agony i now live in day to day for the rest of my life could have been prevented.
Sadly i suspect my weight was to blame and even more sad is this is not the only incident. I have PCOS, have had symptoms since my teens, was told all sorts up to and including "your body just wants a baby" was eventually diagnosed at 33, its now far too late to save my fertility not that I was ever interested anyway but thats why no one would help me, i wasn't having problems conceiving because i don't want kids therefore why would PCOS be a problem? When i piled on weight likely due to it they still didn't care. My testosterone is so high it couldn't be accurately measured but no one has ever followed up with me to see if medication is helping (it's not but does help another condition i have so i keep taking it).
My platelets were high for well over a year before the GP did anything about it despite that being a massive red flag for cancer when there is no other known cause which in my case there is not. My haematologist is fantastic and has actually been more helpful in managing my pain than anyone else ever has been.
Drs dont take me seriously because I'm young (ish), fat and female. My male partner had an attack of sciatica and got tramadol no questions asked but i wait 8 years for a scan which i had to go private for and only then get pain relief that even touches the pain. Why would i trust them?
Hi Hidden thank you for responding. Do you have phone call appointments with your healthcare providers?
Do:
- listen, and take notice of what I say.
- be on time for my appointments - however nice the waiting room is, I don't want to be there all morning.
- look at my notes so I don't have to tell my story over and over.
Don't:
- give me the impression that you're going to help, but then discharge me for some spurious reason and leave me in the lurch.
- give me the impression that you're going to help, but then pass me on to someone else.
- give me a phone number, that only ever goes to a message telling me you're not there.
- do endless assessments that aren't followed up by any helpful action.
- insist on sharing information about me with lots of other people.
- keep trying to give me painkillers and/or laxatives for no real reason.
- call me love, darling, sweetheart, honey, sugar, pet or anything else like that.
- spend more time writing notes that no-one will ever read than you spend with me.
- be so risk averse that I can't get any help from you. when the risk of doing nothing is far greater.
- treat me like a lump of meat that has no thoughts or feelings.
Honesty over mistakes. Honesty over NICE Guidelines, clinical procedures and available treatments.
Not going on strike is top of my list. If your wages are more important than your patients then you're in the wrong job doc.
Reflecting and eliminating their ‘unconscious bias’ also known straightforwardly as discrimination.
As ever, trust has to be won by individuals seen to be doing their best, responding to concerns, going the extra mile, for the patient or patients 'carer' or family representative. It doesnt matter if they work for Government or private health services. Trust has little or nothing to do with corporate aims and missions, If proper management is not in place, it will not facilitate the delivery of best practice, 'mission statements', 'quality' practices, or wasting money on 'fix-it systems'. Proper Management, ensuring proper training of the 'right people' will deliver the environment for patients to appreciate what's going on, and to appreciate why their individual needs cant always be accommodated but also appreciate that there's a continuity of considered, sensitive, care for them at times of pain or inconvenience.
Recently, both my medical practitioners' surgery and care agency (I am paralysed and need carers 3 times per day) have closed their e-mail access for patients. This is important to me because my paralysis makes it very difficult for me to hold he phone for long periods while waiting in the long telephone queues. In any case, telephone contacts are often ignored or fobbed off with deception. Is this happening elsewhere? dailystrength.org/user/prof...
💬 Discussion Topic: If you could choose which symptoms you struggle with the most to improve first, what would they be, and why?💬 Discussion Topic: How does your background or how you grew up affect how you think about healthcare?💬 Discussion Topic: If you prefer alternative healing practices to Western medicine, does it affect how you use the healthcare system?💬 Discussion Topic: How does your health condition impact your mental health?💬 Discussion Topic: Would you change your habits and/or environment for treatments that reduced your most challenging symptoms?
