Peter Aird is a GP in Bridgwater, Somerset.
“Who is Roger Neighbour?”
The answer to this question that has long been asked by those seeking to be seen to have acted well is, as many will already know, that Roger Neighbour is a retired GP, a former Convenor of the Panel of MRCGP Examiners and past President of RCGP, UK. He is also the author of a new guide to successful general practice consultations.
There will be those who ask whether we really need yet another book on how to consult well, especially from one who has already given us ‘The Inner Consultation’, a book that was required reading back when I was a fledgling GP. I confess to having been a little sceptical myself as I started to get into the book which, if I am honest, was, at first, a little hard to crack. But having got through the somewhat tough outer shell, inside was an easily digestible kernel of consultational truth that was most certainly worth the initial effort.
All the old favourites were there, from responding to cues and uncovering hidden agendas to exploring the patient’s ideas, concerns and expectations. But alongside these were some new techniques that I’d not come across before, including tips on ‘thinking aloud’ and ‘turning a receipt’, the latter an effective way of steering consultations in the directions they need to travel. Together they all combine to serve a simple and practical three part model which seeks to ease GPs though consultations which, Neighbour suggests, should begin with ‘the patient’s part’, continue with ‘the doctor’s part’, and then conclude with ‘the shared part’.
Consultations … should begin with ‘the patient’s part’, continue with ‘the doctor’s part’, and then conclude with ‘the shared part’.
But over and above …. we are to show kindness in our consultations.
‘Who then is R. Neighbour?’ He is, in a nutshell, someone who has written a book that encourages us to consult with others in the way we would want others to consult with us. And that, by itself, is more than enough to justify my heartily recommending this book.
 Featured Book
Consulting in a Nutshell. Roger Neighbour. CRC Press; 1st edition. 2020. ISBN-13: 978-0367456955
Featured photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash
