BREAKING BAD NEWS
A N E S S E N T I A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N S S K I L L
D R M O H A M A D A L - G A I L A N I
CO N SULTA N T SURGEO N
B R E A K I N G B A D N E W S C O U R S E
2 0 1 7

BAD NEWS
•Any news that drastically and
negatively alters the patient’s view
of his or her future
BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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GAILANI 2017

EXAMPLES OF BAD NEWS
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•Cancer diagnosis
•Intra uterine foetal death
•Life long illness e.g. Diabetes, epilepsy
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PATIENT’S AND FAMILY
EXPECTATIONS
Privacy
Empathy
Dignity
Clarity of message
Competency
Time for questions
BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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PATIENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO:
BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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• Accurate and true information
• Receive or not receive bad news!
• Decide how much information they want or do not
want
• Decide who should be present during the
consultation, e.g. Family members
• Decide who should be informed about their diagnosis
and what information that person(s) should receive

RESPONSES TO BAD NEWS
• Denial
• Shock
• Anger
• Guilt
• Blame
• Agitation
• Helplessness
• Sense of unreality
• Misinterpreting
information
• Regret/anxiety
BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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DO…
• Ensure privacy and
confidentiality
• Respect
• Honest
• Simple language
• Listen
• Sensitive to the non-
verbal language
• Allow for silence, tears
and other patient
reactions
• Document and liaise
with the
multidisciplinary team
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DO NOT…
•Overload with
information
•Distort the truth
•Give false
reassurance
•Feel obliged to keep
talking all the time
•Withhold information
•Assume that you
know what is
concerning the
patient
•Criticize
•Make judgements
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AVOID
1. Meeting in public
2. Being alone
3. Hurrying!
4. Not being prepared!
5. Interrupted by your mobile phone!
6. Patronizing e.g. It is all your fault you smoked!
7. Give prognosis e.g. You have 6 months to live!
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BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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1. S: SETTING
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Arrange for some privacy
Sit down
Make connection and establish rapport with
the patient
Manage time constraints and interruptions

2. P: PERCEPTION
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Determine what the patient knows?
Listen to the patient!
Accept denial but do not confront at this
stage.

3. I: INVITATION
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Ask patient if they wish to know?
Accept patient’s right not to know!
Offer to answer questions later if they wish

4. K: KNOWLEDGE
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Use language appropriate to patient
Give information in small chunks
Give diagnosis e.g. Cancer
Give any positive aspects e.g. Cancer has not
spread
Check whether the patient understood what
you said!

5. E: EXPLORE
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Prepare to give an empathetic response
Give the patient time to express their
feelings then respond

6. S: STRATEGY (SUMMARY)
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Ask whether they want to clarify
something else?
Offer agenda for the next meeting e.g. I
will speak to you again when we have the
opinion of cancer specialist.
Close the interview

V I D E O
H O W N O T T O
B R E A K B A D N E W S
B R E A K I N G B A D N E W S C O U R S E 3 R D F E B R U A R Y
2 0 1 7 D R . M O H A M A D A L - G A I L A N I

HOW NOT TO
BREAK BAD NEWS
Scenario: Relative informed (in public) by a junior doctor of the
passing away of his father admitted to ER with a heart attack!
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VIDEO SCENARIO
•What went Wrong in this scenario?
1.Conducted in Public
2.Not given by the appropriate person
3.No Privacy
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S C E N A R I O
NEW
BREAST CANCER
DIAGNOSIS
( T h e c a s e o f M r s . A m a l )
DR. MOHAMAD AL-
BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE
GAILANI
2017

SCENARIO: (The case of Mrs. Amal)
•10 minutes (Scenario): The Consultation
between Mrs. Amal and her surgeon Dr.
•Lee.
10 minutes: Observer remarks.
•10 minutes: Course Participants’ remarks
•General Discussion & Questions.
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SCENARIO: (The case of Mrs. Amal)
• Mrs. Amal is a 38-year-old housewife who presented
with a 3-week history of feeling a lump in her right
breast.
• She has last week seen her surgeon Dr. Lee who after
examining her ordered investigations.
• The investigations included a mammogram,
ultrasound and a needle core biopsy from the lump
her right breast.
• She has come today for the Results of her
BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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SCENARIO:
1. S: “Good afternoon Mrs. Amal”
2. P: “What do you know so far Mrs. Amal”?
3. I: “Would you like me to discuss your results”?
4. K: “I’m afraid Ihave some bad news for you”, K “The test
results regrettably confirmed my fears…of breast cancer”
5. E: Checks the patient has understood the bad news E Let
patient ask questions and to discuss their concerns E Gives
room to the patient’s feelings and silence.
6. S: “Can Isummarize what we have discussed”, S “Iwill
arrange for us to meet again next week”, S “Goodbye Mrs.
Amal, see you next Monday with your husband”
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OBSERVER COMMENTS:
Interruptions.
CASE OF MRS. AMAL
• What went well? Privacy, Eye Contact, No
• Was it according to “SPIKES”? Yes
• Did Dr. Lee show Empathy, Knowledge,
Summate? Yes
• What could have been done better? Presence of
a Chaperon (Nurse), More Listening, Time for
Silence! BREAKING BAD NEWS COURSE DR. MOHAMAD AL-
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BREAKING BAD NEWS
SUMMARY
•A Difficult But Fundamentally Important Task
for All Health Care Professionals.
•Focused Training in Communication Skills &
Techniques Improves Performance.
•Enhances Patients’ Satisfaction & Physicians’
Comfort.
•An Essential Skill of Good Medical Practice.
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D R . M O H A M A D A L - G A I L A N I F R C S
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R i y a d h , K S A
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T E L : 0 0 9 6 6 1 1 4 2 5 0 0 0 0
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