Communication and Inequality: Achieving Person-Centred Cardiology Care

A deliberation of how using two key concepts, communication and addressing inequalities in healthcare, can achieve care that is person centred within cardiology.
The healthcare system is a vital part of every individual’s life, whether it affects them directly or indirectly. Therefore it is essential that their needs are met and that they are at the centre of each decision made towards their health. In order to achieve this, health care practitioners must be able to deliver person centred care. The NHS is the most used healthcare service in the UK and therefore healthcare practitioners in the NHS must be able to deliver person centred care to ensure all patients are at the heart of decisions made about their health.
Person centred care can be defined as “providing care that is responsive to individual personal preferences, needs and values and assuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.” (Nes, 2013¹) Other definitions suggest that in order to achieve person centred care, healthcare practitioners must place themselves in the patient’s shoes to enable them to be compassionate and respectful towards the patient’s needs

Working/lower class individuals are more likely to suffer from poor health as they are most likely to be in manual jobs. These manual jobs are more likely to expose workers to toxins and pollution thus affecting their health. The Black Report of 198024 highlights that working class individuals are more likely to smoke and turn to drinking due to stress from working in these poor conditions. The NHS does not prioritise patients in order of their class, status or wealth but instead on their health needs. Practitioners should recognise class inequalities and work to avoid bias. Due to lack of cultural capital, patients from lower social classes may lack knowledge of medical procedures and may need extra