Transcript Patient and Family Experience Summit

Patient and Family Experience Summit
Dr Kate Granger
ST5 Doctor in Elderly Medicine & terminally
ill cancer patient
About Me….
What I’m going to talk about
 Experiences as a patient
 Communication
 Undergoing procedures
 Deciding to stop chemotherapy
 The impact of illness on me as a doctor
 Communication
 Advocacy
 Importance of Palliative Care
My experience on the other
side as a cancer patient
To me being a patient is…
 Embarrassing
 Undignified
 Frightening
 Stressful
 Time consuming
 Isolating
Simple as 1,2,3…
Listen
Imagine this scenario…
 I am alone
 I am in agony
 A junior doctor I have never met before
 Tells me I have metastatic cancer…
 He then leaves me without telling the nurses what he
has just said, does not ask if I would like him to get
anyone for me and I never see him again
Finding out my definitive diagnosis
 My Consultant sees me with his junior team
 He asks if I want anyone with me
 An appropriate warning shot is fired
 I am gently told that I have DSRCT
 He holds my hand
 When I break down emotionally and ask the juniors to
leave it is fine
 Lots of quiet time for the news to settle
 My questions are answered at an appropriate level
Procedure after procedure
• Retrograde bilateral ureteric stent insertion
• 3 x nephrostomies
• 2 x omental biopsies
• Hickman line insertion
• Flexible cystoscopy and stent removal
• Antegrade bilateral ureteric stent insertion
• Hickman line removal
• (and numerous venepunctures, cannulations, intimate
examinations etc)
Dignity!
Deciding to stop
 New Year’s Eve 2011
 In hospital with febrile neutropaenia and peritonitis
 Burdens of treatment outweighing benefits
 Perceived as ‘giving up’ by some
 Relief from others
 Consultant tried to talk me into continuing…
Impact of terminal illness on me
as a practising doctor
Communication
 Importance of the ‘Little Things’
Breaking bad news
 Right time, right person, right setting, right after-care
Advocacy
 I can advocate for myself effectively
 Many of my patients cannot…
Palliative Care
 Arguably the most important time in healthcare terms
for a patient
 Palliative Care is everyone’s business
Any questions?
To summarise
 Serious illness has had a major impact on me as a
doctor
 Communication, communication, communication
 Patient-centred care is the Holy Grail
 Patients are individual people first and foremost; they
are not just disease entities
 Time to care
Shameless self-promotion…
 www.theothersidestory.co.uk