Telephone consultations comprise about 20% of all GP : patient contacts. This figure is rising. Nurses and allied clinical professionals make increasing use of the phone – in both community and hospital settings.

But the people who speak most on the phone with patients are the non-clinical staff – receptionists, secretaries, clerks and call-handlers.

Most will have received no telephone training specific to their roll. The training that HAS been on offer typically consists of checklists of advice. In particular, telephone conversations have, in the past, often not been taken as seriously as face-to-face contacts – with risks for patient and staff member alike.

We know that effective learner change in communication skills has been demonstrated only by training that takes a skills based approach (incorporating practice, observation, feedback and further rehearsal).

Our seminar introduces some interesting evidence and allows the group to process it with facilitated discussion.

Group exercises allow the participants to examine some of the important messages and to reflect on their own experience, before moving to rehearsal of the specific skill areas that we have found to most repay development i.e. “The Opening 90 seconds” and “Explaining and Planning”.

There is a balance of brief presentation, focused discussion, group work and skills rehearsal – supported by a referenced workbook and moving briskly to retain learner engagement.

By the end of the seminar, participants will have enhanced their skills for efficient conversations with patients, in the settings relevant to their own practice.

Telephone consultations comprise 10-20% of all GP : patient contacts. This figure is rising. Primary care nurses conduct an increasing proportion of patient contacts by phone and many run telephone triage sessions. Out-of-hours care relies on the telephone. Hospital outreach and follow up are increasingly using the telephone. Occupational health clinicians make significant use of the telephone.

Most clinicians have received no telephone training. The training that HAS been on offer typically consists of checklists of advice. In particular, telephone consultations have, in the past, often not been taken as seriously as face-to-face consultations – with risks for patient and clinician alike.

We know that effective learner change in communication skills has been demonstrated only by training that takes a skills based approach (incorporating practice, observation, feedback and further rehearsal).

Our seminar introduces some interesting evidence and allows the group to process it with facilitated discussion. We present a framework for the telephone consultation—based on the best advice from several published sources.

Group exercises allow the participants to examine some of the important messages and to reflect on their own experience, before moving to rehearsal of the specific skill areas that we have found to most repay development i.e. “The Opening 75 seconds” and “Making a plan/Answering questions”.

We then consider some more challenging telephone scenarios and how best to address them. Finally we create a chance to practise a whole telephone consultation, putting it all together, with the use of the EPI “Telephone Consultation Observation Sheet” (which participants may then use freely in their own cpd after the course).

There is a balance of brief presentation, focused discussion, group work and skills rehearsal – supported by a referenced workbook and moving briskly to retain learner engagement.

By the end of the seminar, participants will have enhanced their skills to conduct safe and effective telephone consultations with patients, in the settings relevant to their own practice.