Have you ever felt unheard by your doctor? Been frustrated that they haven’t understood your symptoms, that they have neglected your concerns?
When Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan was admitted to hospital as a patient she didn’t receive the pain medication that she told them she needed, despite her being a senior doctor. It was in that moment she understood that something was deeply wrong with our healthcare system. Doctors aren’t listening, and it is making us ill.
In Unheard, Dr Dhairyawan takes us on a journey through history to show how not listening to patients has been ingrained in medicine from its inception. Western medicine has been built on the assumption that power should always lie with the doctor, and that patients should be powerless to decisions made about their body if it is done to make them well. This, alongside the prejudices of society, has led to dramatic gaps in medical knowledge because for centuries people have not been heard.
Dr Dhairyawan offers a way to reshape our health system for a future where active and engaged listening is the new frontier in a timely, shocking and engaging exposé of the medical world.
When Dr Rageshri Dhairyawan was admitted to hospital as a patient she didn’t receive the pain medication that she told them she needed, despite her being a senior doctor. It was in that moment she understood that something was deeply wrong with our healthcare system. Doctors aren’t listening, and it is making us ill.
In Unheard, Dr Dhairyawan takes us on a journey through history to show how not listening to patients has been ingrained in medicine from its inception. Western medicine has been built on the assumption that power should always lie with the doctor, and that patients should be powerless to decisions made about their body if it is done to make them well. This, alongside the prejudices of society, has led to dramatic gaps in medical knowledge because for centuries people have not been heard.
Dr Dhairyawan offers a way to reshape our health system for a future where active and engaged listening is the new frontier in a timely, shocking and engaging exposé of the medical world.
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Reviews
The book I've been longing to read. This is such a timely, vital exploration of the ways in which doctors can silence their patients and how this reinforces health inequalities. Dr Dhairyawan writes with great compassion, candour and a scalpel-sharp intellect. A brilliant, fascinating book.
With Unheard Rageshri Dhairyawan shows how much medicine has lost its way when it fails to really hear the patient's story and points the way back to a better (as well as more effective) medical culture of listening.
In Unheard, Dr Dhairyawan's experience and wisdom as both doctor and patient are brought to bear on one of the most pressing subjects of our day: how to access vital care and how to deliver it, and the often devastating consequences of silencing and misdirected power. This is a timely, necessary, indignant and ultimately compassionate book that should become required reading for medics, politicians and the public.
Unheard is a vital prescription for health equity, with a clear and simple message: listen. Dr Dhairyawan skilfully bridges the long-standing divide between patients and their healthcare providers, calling for a more collaborative, respectful and empathic relationship between the two. I hope every healthcare professional reads it and feels inspired to radically rethink their practice.
Accessibly written and deftly argued, Dr Dhairyawan not only lays bare the shortcomings in our health system's culture, but offers solutions.
Dr Dhairyawan is a powerful advocate for patients. Her compassion shines through in Unheard and is something we can all learn from. Unheard is a vital read that has the capacity to transform patient care. A must read for all those interested in improving health outcomes.
A powerful book that made me reflect on my own clinical practice. A must read to break the cycle of silence and shame that perpetuates to widen the knowledge gap and keep a nation sick.