ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the importance of listening, conscious competence in recognising cues and the listening loop. It considers the pragmatic choices and limits on listening that are employed in the pressure of everyday practice. The perspective of patients is that their relationship with the doctor ranks alongside the doctor’s technical or professional competence in delivery of care when assessing their priorities for, and satisfaction with, their healthcare. Patients are thought to choose the doctor who suits them best, though this may vary from problem to problem: Patients select the listening technique and the doctor of their choice and a lot of it is down to experience and the type and way they wish to be treated. Factors associated with patients create pressure and limits on listening. One of these is the content of listening, for example discussion around termination of pregnancy or an illness similar to one presently affecting the general practitioner.
