Final Report > Chapter 23: Respect and Honesty > Honesty
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Honesty
6 A relationship based on respect will only flourish if there is a foundation of honesty in the exchanges between patient (or parent) and professional. During Phase Two, we heard that the honesty and openness of nurses and doctors makes a significant and positive difference to the patient's, or their carer's, ability to cope. For example, one mother wrote of a neurologist who had treated her daughter: `Although what he had to tell us was so bleak, we appreciated his very direct approach. We wanted the truth as he saw it, and he respected our wish to be fully informed.' She went on to express her appreciation also of her daughter's cardiologist's ability to respond in `... a normal, human way ...' and the nurses' willingness to `... share part of themselves on a human mother-to-mother level.' [3]
7 We also received evidence of the importance of honesty in maintaining trust between parents of a sick child and clinicians. Richard Lunniss, father of William, told us:
`You cannot trust people if you do not think they are being honest, even if they are being nice. Once you think that they might not say the thing as it is, then you can never believe quite - there is no working relationship from that point on.' [4]
8 Justine Eastwood, mother of Oliver, also spoke of the need for honesty, particularly in the most difficult of circumstances when a child is very sick:
`I think you need to know. It hurts ... It hurts to hear it, but you need to know the truth. I do not want to be told everything is going to be jolly and fine. It is a fact of life. ... You do not want people to be cruel to you but you need honesty in a situation like that.' [5]
9 We were equally struck by one of the submissions to Phase Two from the Royal College of Surgeons which acknowledged the importance of good communication but stated, starkly, that practice still falls short of theory:
`Proper communication between a patient and the surgeon responsible for their care is essential so that the patient can develop trust and is sufficiently informed to be a true partner in the decision making process. Unfortunately, this is the area of greatest compromise in the practice of most surgeons in the NHS and the source of most complaint by patients.' [6]
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Footnotes
[3] Seminar 7. A mother's perspective on support for families when things go wrong in children's healthcare. Joanna Richards. Position Paper
[6] Seminar 7. The Royal College of Surgeons of England. Position Paper