Background
Breaking bad news is one element of patient-professional communication. Ideally all communications with patients (and their relatives/carers) should be delivered sensitively and in a manner and at a time that fits with their needs. The aim should be to establish a dialogue between the professional and the patient (and relatives/carers). The following statements reflect the particular issues that need to be incorporated into a 'bad news' interview. Breaking bad news is one of the more difficult tasks that health professionals have to
undertake. However well it is done, there is no getting away from the fact that bad news is bad news. What is clear, however, is that the manner in which bad news is broken can have a profound effect on both the recipient and the giver. To do it badly may affect all of a patient's (and their relatives') future contact with the health care professionals involved intheir treatment and may impair their quality of life and well-being. It may also result in a formal complaint. If done well, it can form the basis for a helpful and constructive partnership between patients, relatives and their healthcare staff.
The objective of this document is to provide an accessible and practical set of guidelines for all healthcare professionals involved in giving ‘bad news' or in other challenging and difficult consultations with patients, relatives and others. Each of these situations will have its own particular characteristics and individuality. Guidelines are not rigid constraints upon decisionmaking and do not stop health care professionals using clinical judgement./.../
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