Govt docs to train in soft-skills to minimise conflicts with patients

The Union health ministry's National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) is planning to start a dedicated course to train doctors at government hospitals in soft-skills that will help them communicate more effectively with patients and attendants and minimise the rising incidents of patient-doctor confrontation,

- Rhythma Kaul

NEW DELHI: people familiar with the matter said.

"It is going to be a well-designed training course with several components to it—training doctors on how to communicate well with their patients and those accompanying them is going to be a part of the course. It will also have other components that would include training doctors in how to document better in medico-legal cases so that it holds up in the court of law," said Dr Dheeraj Shah, director, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare.

The institute, an autonomous organisation, under Union ministry of health and family welfare, acts as an apex technical institute as well as a think tank for the promotion of health and family welfare programmes in the country.