A pressing call for a more compassionate and collaborative approach in healthcare echoes through recent discussions led by UK’s parliamentary and health service ombudsman, Rob Behrens, drawing attention to the persisting patient safety failures. Behrens, in a recent dialogue highlighted by The Times, emphasised the urgent need for doctors to adopt a more empathetic stance towards patients, aligning it with the critical solutions needed in the healthcare sector.
The Times Health Commission, aimed at dissecting healthcare challenges and proposing viable remedies, underscored research findings pointing towards the preventability of a significant portion of the 48,000 sepsis-related deaths occurring annually. Behrens, whose investigation into sepsis-related fatalities in 2013 exposed recurring errors, lamented that similar mistakes persist a decade later.
This issue of recurrent errors isn’t confined to sepsis alone; maternity care bears the brunt as well. The 2013 Francis report on maternity services at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust highlighted a lack of proactive measures in the face of abnormal death rates, attributing it to a probable absence of constant empathy towards patients among healthcare professionals.
Recent reports in 2022 concerning avoidable infant and maternal deaths at Shrewsbury and East Kent NHS hospitals echoed similar sentiments, attributing tragedies to a dearth of empathy and compassion.
Scientific backing corroborates the assertion that integrating more empathy into healthcare practices could potentially address persistent patient care issues. Beyond reducing complaints and medical errors, clinical trials unveiled the remarkable impact of healthcare professionals displaying empathy; it correlated with reduced pain levels—both chronic and acute—decreased post-operative morphine use, and bolstered immunity in post-operative patients.
Contrary to assumptions, empathy doesn’t escalate the risk of “compassion fatigue”—akin to burnout induced by resonating with patients’ suffering. Multiple studies have indicated that heightened empathy actually diminishes practitioner burnout. Empathic healthcare professionals tend to find greater purpose in their work with patients, fostering resilience in the face of challenges.
However, the unfortunate reality unveils a decline in reported doctor empathy from patients, intertwined with a concerning trend within medical education. Medical students witness a decline in empathy as they traverse through medical school, attributed in part to a “hidden curriculum” influenced by role models who lack empathetic traits and an excessively stressful environment, adversely impacting students’ mental health and empathic abilities.
Regrettably, this trend extends beyond medical school, with higher rates of mental illness and distressingly elevated suicide rates among healthcare practitioners. This concerning pattern bleeds into clinical practice, driving junior doctors to seek fairer working conditions abroad, with four in ten expressing intentions to leave the NHS.
The ripple effect of staff departures exacerbates shortages, stress, and a vicious cycle of compromised well-being, diminished empathy, and subsequent patient errors within the healthcare system.
Despite the bleak outlook, there’s a glimmer of hope in evidence-based solutions. Trials highlighting the cost-effectiveness of empathy training for doctors have emerged. For instance, reducing the staggering £600 million annual NHS cost attributed to absenteeism due to poor mental health by a mere 10% through empathy training could yield substantial benefits for both staff and patients.
The evidence unequivocally supports the manifold benefits of increased empathy, both for patients—through improved outcomes—and for doctors—by enhancing well-being and resilience. Encouraging the implementation of evidence-based empathy training for healthcare practitioners, sometimes requiring as little as two hours, is imperative. Moreover, medical schools should integrate empathy as a foundational element in their curricula to cultivate a future healthcare workforce grounded in compassion and understanding.
