Compassion, dignity and respect

People who use health and care services have the right to be treated with respect, dignity and compassion by staff who have the skills and time to care for them. (Treating patients and service users with respect, dignity and compassion, Department of Health and Social Care policy)

Cultural competence – an e-learning resource developed by HEE e-Learning for Health, which aims to support clinicians in the NHS to gain knowledge and understanding of the issues around culture and health; and how this might influence health care outcomes.

From FutureLearn:

• Developing Clinical Empathy: Making a Difference in Patient Care – discover the difference empathy can make to patient care, and improve your own clinical empathy – a 2 week online course.
• Compassionate Care: Getting it Right – explores the impact of compassionate care, for both practitioners and users of health and social care. Check the site for future start dates.

Ways to show compassion by Sharon Poll,  a nurse working in general practice: –
● Negotiate to ensure your employer manager and team understand the changes that need to be made
● Work on building relationships
● Think about how to make interventions truly holistic
● Challenge care and think about it from the patient’s perspective
● See the patient not the disease or condition
● Make sure you are hearing the patient’s voice
(Ref: Leading with compassion, Nursing Times. 5 July, 2013) 

Compassion in Practice The 6Cs Live  communication hub [Archived]  – Celebrating the commitment of nurses, midwives and care staff committed to improving patient experience and the quality of care. Supports the delivery of the 6Cs – care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment. 

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The CPD Zone is brought to you by the GP schools of Health Education England working across Thames Valley and Wessex, in association with Oxford Health FT Library.​