"Bedside manner counts as much as treatment!"

Anything else?

I travelled all the way to Oxford only to be seen for 15 minutes, 5 of which were for my own clarifications. They poor people skills of the doctor was heavily discrediting, not to mention that they were made aware of other ailments within their specialty but was chained to the bureaucracy to only deal with, or even comment upon, the one issue for which I was referred. While this is likely a bureaucratic challenge, it's awful when a highly specialized clinician willingly sends away a visibly ill patient. What's worse, because my issues turned out to be rather minor, my appointment took significantly less time than expected, and so the fact that the two clinicians present refused to even apply their competence to the other issues. Neither could even crack a smile, which further discredited them. There is a wide array of research demonstrating that bedside manner contributes as much to the perception of well-being AND an actual healthy outcome, so it's always surprising that so few NHS doctors seem to have any real people skills. Yes, in order to obtain a healthy outcome, and to promote patient compliance with meds, research does show unequivocally that trust and rapport matter. There was a great failing on the part of these professionals, such that I honestly wanted to ask the two clinicians present in the room if they would appreciate such service for their own family members. Imagine sending an ill patient away, particularly when their issue very clearly falls within their specialty. There's little dignity in that. Has the NHS bred dignity out of its employees, because this problem seems widespread, though acute in today's experience.