My night on-call in Sweden

Jacopo Crippa, Antonino Spinelli British Journal of Surgery, Volume 109, Issue 2, February 2022, Pages 147–149 Comment: the authors recommend integrating medical and surgical management.

Gianluca Pellino, BJS Academy SoMe and Associate Professor of Surgery at University of Campania, Naples, Italy, @GianlucaPellino

During my surgical training, I visited the UK, and was on call as a Senior House Officer. Having trained in Italy (and in the south), I used to create a connection with patients, which included some sort of physical contact, e.g., offering handshaking or placing a hand on the shoulder. During one of my first outpatient clinics in UK, I introduced myself to a new patient, and invited them to sit while conducting the interview and I put my hand on their shoulder. The consultation went on without any issues (that was my feeling); however, at the end of the clinic, my responsible consultant asked me to have a quick chat. We had a coffee together, and I was told that the patient reported that my unnecessary touching had been an unpleasant experience which made them feel uncomfortable. I felt bad; the consultant smiled and reassured me that it was not a big deal, but I only had to learn to adapt to different ways of working and get used to different cultures. Some weeks later, I was on a night shift covering surgical wards. During a ward-round in the evening, I saw an elderly gentleman. who had had one of his legs amputated. During the consultation, I felt he was feeling uncomfortable with a strange doctor not from his surgical team assessing him. I had a brief chat with him and afterwards offered my hand. After some hesitation, he shook my hand. The following night, I visited him again, he seemed more relaxed and we had another brief but pleasant conversation; this also happened on the following two nights.

Christopher C Kearsey, Nigel Day, Paul A Sutton

Comment: If diagnosed, the patient should be referred to a specialist centre.