Chiropractors have long been asking patients about their lifestyle. This is because we recognise that pain is a multi-faceted entity and every patient has unique factors that influence their recovery from injury. Any new patient consultation involves questioning the patient about diet, exercise habits, alcohol intake and smoking history.
A new NHS proposal from the NHS Future Forum has made a series of recommendations to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to do just that. Staff are being asked to “make every contact count in an effort to promote health and in doing so help to control the spiralling costs NHS treatment required as a result of lifestyle factors.
A change in the right direction
It is great to see the NHS recognising the role of discussing lifestyle factors in face to face patient consultations. Whatever the profession or speciality, patients place trust in our healthcare professionals and they are in a unique position to offer expertise and advice. In private practice however we have the luxury of time whereas I worry how successfully thee measures can be implicated in the current NHS system that is short on time and desperately understaffed. We shall wait and see
