In what is a quintessentially patient-centred activity, it feels strange to pick up a book on communication skills organised by reference to diseases. A slightly bizarre feature is the inclusion of medical details concerning a range of clinical problems. In chapter one there are images of cranial ultrasounds showing various types of brain damage. Why this kind of information is included in a book on communicating with patients is unclear. By contrast, the chapter on dealing with difficult patients is practical and well written and is a good model of how an approach based on patients' characteristics rather than diseases might have worked more effectively.
Many chapters cover common ground and the repetition quickly becomes tedious.
If the contents of this book could be incorporated into standard textbooks of clinical medicine, they might actually be read and understood in context. Communication skills are simply essential components of good clinical care and deserve to be seen in this light.