ACKNOWLEDGE anger
• I can see that this is frustrating you at this point.
• I can see why you are angry, it’s natural to feel like this
• I can understand why you are frustrated
• I can clearly see that you are annoyed by the situation.
• I can see that you’re very frustrated about what happened
• It seems like it was a very challenging situation for you
• I’m sorry. I know I’m irritating you by asking all these Qs but we’re almost
finished.
• I’m promise these are all routine Qs we tend to ask when it comes to ____, I
promise I’m not taking too much longer
APOLOGIZE & INVESTIGATE
• I’m very sorry that you have to go through all of this, it sounds like you’ve
been through a terrible time
• I’m really sorry that it’s got to this stage that you had to come in and have a
chat with us like this
• I’m sorry that you felt they were _____ (e.g. very rude to you)
• I can see this is frustrating you and that you’re really annoyed by this, but
unfortunately I can’t go over details myself because I wasn’t around when it
happened/wasn’t aware of what happened/wasn’t a witness to the situation.
• I need to do a little bit more looking up into things myself, and then perhaps
we could have more detailed discussion
• Would you mind if I looked into the situation a little further, I think some
details need to be clarified as I wasn’t involved in the bit you’re talking to me
about
Relative: CONFIDENTIALITY
• I know it is frustrating but I do need to check that we have permission to
discuss your father’s medical records
EMPATHIZE
• You are right. Your medication is important.
• Correct. Getting medication on time is important.
• You’re right, this shouldn’t happen in the first place.
• Relative: Hearing that your _(e.g. father has had a stroke) is a big thing
and I see how this is a really difficult thing to take in/you’re frustrated about it
ICE and PSYCHOSOCIAL
Explain DUTY
• It is very important to us that we minimise harm and suffering for our patients,
this is the last thing that we’d want to happen to your ____
Give ANSWER EARLY on to calm pt down
• My focus is your needs. After this I’ll make sure you get your medication right
away.
• After this discussion I’m going to _____
2ND HALF
Give SOLUTION (for both sides)
• Let’s see if we could move this situation on, how about I do ___ and ___
• Let’s see how we can resolve this, how about I talk to ___ in order to move
things forward
• Would it help if I discuss this situation with the colleague who was involved?
• How do you think I could help resolving this situation for you?
• Is there anything you think I could do to take the situation forward to ensure
that it won’t happen again?
Acknowledge RIGHT TO COMPLAINT and EXPLAIN HOW
• I ensure you that we will look into this fully, but if your wish to take this further
than of course I will explain the complaint procedure to you.
• That’s your right, and I’m happy to go through things in this regard with you.
• If you wish to do so, I’ll refer you to a service that handles this specifically
called Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
• They will look into detail and guide you on this matter
PREVENTION
• To prevent/make sure things potentially don’t happen again in the future, I’m
going to
o Fill out incident report
o Talk to my senior/team members/staffs
o Discuss in clinical event meeting