For any organisation, in any sector, most problems are caused by people. This means lost revenue and unhappy customers/employees. In healthcare, it could be the difference between life or death. Managing complex relationships and environments takes up more time than it should. This is time which should be focused on patient centricity and building a safer, more efficient environment.

We know that how people communicate with each other has an impact on results and we also know, in the case of doctors, that if they can communicate effectively with patients and teams, they will improve safety and reduce the risk of incident (and the potential consequences such as litigation).

This sounds obvious – but why is it not always widely accepted/embedded into culture? The same reason it doesn’t happen in other organisations. It’s hard. It involves lots of work, over time, and often dealing with egos that don’t think they have anything to learn. Or, if they do, it can’t possibly be that important.

Workplace culture – and its impact on bottom line and patient safety – is hard to measure. There is an abundance of business focused research, and anecdotal evidence. Physicians, surgeons and clinical senior leadership teams are detail orientated and analytical – it’s difficult to undertake research on culture and communication in a way that meets peer review journal standards as we see with medicine, although more emphasis is being placed on this now.

Unfortunately, much of the analysis comes after medical errors occur, in the form of investigation and reports. We recently wrote about a report which highlighted a toxic work environment among surgeons at a London hospital – the hospital had a cardiac surgery death rate of 3.7% – well above the national 2% average.

By this time, it’s too late. Communication and trust has been eroded past the point of return. Cultures are built on fear and blame, instead of accountability and kind candour. Culture – good or bad – impacts results. 

No matter how much our reliance on technological and scientific innovation and automation grows, humans will always be needed in healthcare – and this means we need to get better at HardTalk. 

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