Dealing with difficult patients and customers in healthcare 

Supporting patients is the main duty of staff working in healthcare. However, when some of them are difficult to deal with, it can be extremely hard to offer your best support to other patients in the building. That’s why knowing how to deal with trickier ones is a must for healthcare professionals. 

You can expect to encounter a wide variety of people and personalities. There are roughly 16 million attendances in A&E departments each year, after all, and that’s just one section of the healthcare sector.

You might have to work with patients who are by turns demanding, uncooperative or outright hostile. Below, we’ll talk about the best methods for dealing with such behaviour and consider some of the different scenarios in which you might encounter them as a healthcare professional.

How to deal with difficult patients 

• Communicate the difficulty – If an issue with your systems or way of working is causing the patient to become difficult, then take time to explain the situation. This could help them to understand the problem and have more empathy for you.
• Consider why they might be acting like this – Unfortunately, healthcare staff can get the brunt of emotions for which they’re not to blame. Try to consider why the patient is acting this way and find ways to console them if they’re upset about a diagnosis.
• Listen to them – Often patients complaining just want their voices to be heard. Be attentive and take in what they say to make them feel respected. This may calm the situation. It’s impossible to know what’s working or not working for patients without asking for their feedback. If you are not routinely collecting feedback from your patients or do not yet have in place a system to do so, check out the patient feedback ideas here to discover more about the importance of collecting feedback and how you should go about using this feedback to improve your operations. 
• Focus on finding a solution – A difficult patient is usually difficult because they want something and you’ll want to deal with them quickly, so you can move on to the next person. That’s why finding a solution that works for both parties is a must. Work together and solve the issue.

Examples of where you might find difficult patients and customers

Pharmacy

If a patient is waiting for a prescription and it takes a while then, in rare situations, they may get hostile and cause damage. You could explore pharmacy insurance that may cover such scenarios as a way to bolster your peace of mind.

Hospitals 

This is where patients may find out that they’re seriously injured or have been diagnosed with a terminal illness; it’s no surprise that they could be in distress. Show compassion and try to reassure them as much as you can.

These difficult situations can impact your mental health, something which it’s vital to take steps to protect – particularly when your job involves caring for others. Try our tips above to make your life easier when dealing with difficult patients and customers.