Patients value GPs with good listening skills

Patients with potential cancer symptoms were willing to wait for almost a month to see a GP with good listening skills, highlighting the importance of good communication skills in general practice. This was one of the main findings from a study published recently in the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP), which sought to investigate patients’ GP consultation preferences when presented with a potential cancer symptom, and to describe whether these preferences were mediated by variable levels of cancer risk. According to the authors, contacting a doctor for advice when experiencing a potential cancer symptom is an important step in…