Concordance between the HCPs' and patient's perception of the efficiency of the clinical consultation in breast clinic, scope for improvement

Abstract

The psychological stress of patients attending breast clinic can be managed by effective communication. Healthcare professionals (HCPs) in breast clinics need outstandingly professional patient-centred communication skills for effective and communication to build rapport, relieve distress and promote compliance. The objective of the pilot project was to assess the suitability of an adapted version the' Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale' (MISS 21) to assess the concordance between the HCPs' and patient's perception of the efficiency of the clinical consultation. Methods: In this pilot study, 50 patients, two clinicians, one specialist Breast cancer nurse took part. HCPs and patients assessed the clinical consultation on five subscales Distress Relief, Communication and comfort, Rapport, compliance intent and Behaviour on a 7-point Likert score. Two questionnaires had to be discarded as patients scored all questions as 7 or yes. Results: There was a general concordance between the HCP and patients in satisfaction with the clinical consultation. The median score for HCP in the domains of communication comfort and rapport was 6. The median score for distress relief was marginally lower in the trainee doctors. HCP and patients found MISS-21 as an effective tool in assessing the consultations in Rapid access and follow-up breast clinics. However, both patients and HCP found MISS-21 unhelpful to assess cancer diagnosis giving consultations. Conclusion: MISS-21 is a useful tool to assess the quality of clinical consultations inRapid access breast clinic and can help identify the levels and developmental needs of key skills as ability to develop rapport and provide distress relief. These skills can be taught and learned.