What can hospitals learn from Ashya King?
7th September 2014
In amongst the media storm that has engulfed the story of a very sick child and a desperate family, one could be forgiven for not appreciating the common features of this case. Communication between parents and medical teams is highly complex and influenced by a myriad of factors including environment, the nature of the child’s condition, previous experience of hospital care and the family’s beliefs, understanding and expectations. As such, the possibility of complications, potentially leading to a breakdown in the relationship, remains high. 68 observed instances of conflict between parents and the medical team in a 3 month period at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital strongly suggests that this view is more than simply speculative. A two year pilot project, including staff training, conflict resolution and mediation, ending in 2015, seeks to actively address the complexities involved in working with the parents of sick children and change the culture. Conflict not only negatively affects families but increases staff sickness, work disruption, reduces time for other patients and divides health care teams. It seems like the potential benefits of initiatives such as these could far outweigh costs. More importantly, it could begin a move towards a more systematic approach to the assessment of family needs, communication training and skills development for medical teams rather than naively leaving these aspects of psychological care to chance. For full details of the article click here or to listen to a podcast here. For information relating to the medical mediation foundation click here