Mastering healthcare conversations
This page will give you tips and tricks that will help you have productive conversations with your healthcare team.
Getting the best out of conversations with your healthcare team
Getting a diagnosis of prostate cancer can be overwhelming. You will meet many different healthcare professionals on your journey. Going along to a healthcare appointment can make many people feel anxious. But, there are many things that you can do to prepare yourself.
This page will:
- Give you tips on how best to prepare yourself for your healthcare appointment.
- Introduce you to some of the healthcare professionals you may meet.
- Show you how best to handle challenging conversations.
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What healthcare professionals will I meet along my prostate cancer journey?
Watch this short animation to learn more about some of the healthcare professionals you may meet along your prostate cancer journey.
Other staff you may meet include:
Psychosexual and relationship counsellor:
A psychosexual counsellor helps people with sexual and relationship problems.
You may be able to access a psychosexual counsellor through your healthcare team.
Visit our Living with Side Effects page for more information.
Clinical psychologist:
Psychologists help people to deal with the psychological and emotional aspects of health and illness.
They can also support people with a range of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression and stress.
Some hospitals will have a psychologist attached to their cancer team.
Ask your healthcare team for more information.
Why you may not meet the same healthcare professionals at each appointment
There are a few reasons why you may not see the same healthcare professional at each appointment.
- Your needs
- If your condition is stable, you may see a less specialised healthcare professional.
- If your needs increase, you will see a more specialist nurse or consultant.
- You may see a urologist or oncologist or both. This will depend on your treatment choice.
- You may not always need to see your consultant at every follow-up. Instead, you are likely to see a clinical nurse specialist.
- Other reasons
- Staff sickness.
- Changing shift patterns.
- Staff rotation.
- Staff leaving
Getting the most out of your appointments
There are many things that you can do to make your appointments less stressful.
A. Bring someone else to your appointments
B. Prioritise your questions
C. Know what to do if you are running out of time
Five more top tips for getting the best out of your appointment
Managing difficult conversations
Things your healthcare team may say or do and how to deal with it
Your doctor or nurse calls you at an inconvenient time
If it’s not convenient for you to talk, say so. Arrange a mutually convenient time and date for a call back when:
- You know that you will have someone with you.
- You are in a private place.
Your doctor or nurse use language you do not fully understand
You can say that you are finding it hard to take in all the information.
- Ask your doctor or nurse to explain again.
- Ask them to use pictures or more simple terms.
- You could also ask them:
- To write down the names of any medicines or treatments
- To signpost you to other sources of information for example, the Infopool.
Your doctor or nurse are not listening to your views
- Politely tell them that you would like to be more involved in the decisions about your treatment.
- Let them know what matters to you when thinking about treatment choices.
- Ask them for more information to help you make a more informed decision.
- Ask your doctor or nurse why they think a certain treatment is best for you.
- Say that you need more time to think and to consider your options.
- Don’t feel rushed into deciding on a treatment. You can say that you need time to talk with friends and family.
You are not offered enough support for your side effects
- Tell your doctor or nurse that these issues are severely affecting your everyday life.
- Ask for help to manage the symptoms.
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have produced guidelines for the management of prostate cancer. They say that you should be offered support with side effect management including referrals to specialist services.
Your're feeling rushed
- Tell your doctor or nurse that you appreciate that they are busy.
- Stress that you have questions and concerns about your treatment options.
How you can help yourself in appointments
Ask why the treatment you hoped for is not suitable for you.
- If your doctor or nurse say that a treatment is not suitable, you can ask why this is.
- It is OK to ask questions of your doctor or nurse.
- It is also OK to disagree respectfully.
- Explain clearly why you want a particular test or treatment.
- Make this a discussion, not a fight. Shared decision making is all about working together.
Calmly explain how you are feeling
- It’s easy to panic when you’re upset, worried or stressed.
- Always try to stay calm.
- Take a deep breath and explain why you are angry or frustrated.
- Taking someone with you to your appointment can help to ease your stress.
Be honest about your condition
- If you are not following your treatment plan, think about why this is.
- If it is because you are having bad side effects, say so.
- Your team can offer some support for your side effects.
- They may be able to change your medication.
Go into the appointment with a positive attitude
- It’s easy to let previous poor experiences affect how you feel. For example, not feeling listened to can be frustrating.
- Treat every new appointment as a fresh experience.
- Don't let negative experiences cloud the current experience. It can affect the way that you interact with your doctor or nurse.
- This may result in you leaving your appointment feeling dissatisfied.
- If you have had a bad experience in the past, be honest about it.
Don't feel embarrassed to talk about personal issues
- Talking about mental health, erectile dysfunction or sex can feel embarrassing.
- Remember, your doctor and nurse deal with these issues every day.
- They won't judge you or make you feel awkward.
- They will be able to help you to get support.
About this information
- This information was published in June 2024. Date of next review: August 2026.
- References and bibliography available on request.
- If you want to reproduce this content, please see our Reproducing Our Content page (this link will open in a new external tab).
The toolkit is an information resource for people affected by prostate cancer. The development has been funded through an educational grant from Advanced Accelerator Applications (A Novartis Company).
