Following on from the last 3 Monday Morning Email’s we are uncovering the ‘8 things’ you should never say to a patient & this Monday we dig into – “I didn’t expect that.”

You always want to keep in mind how psychologically and physically vulnerable patients feel when they visit your clinic. It’s a brand-new environment, it may be intimidating, they are most likely nervous about their condition and symptoms, they are unsure how serious the problem may be and they may not understand everything that’s going on both clinically and administratively amongst you and your staff.

That’s why you want to avoid any exclamations or sudden disruptions in your behaviour or speech. Instead of immediately reacting to something that has gone astray or not quite right, wait until the end of the treatment, test or procedure to tell your patient what went wrong as eloquently and professionally as possible. Do not say something like “I didn’t expect that…”, “Whops…”, “That’s not good…”, you get the idea.