Newsletter | September 2026
Spring has brought more activity for us here at Bedside Manners. We have recently started to work with the Applied Research on Communication in Healthcare group at the University of Otago. I will be providing my conversation analysis expertise to analyse communication about vaccines. We're also still working on new online modules as well as updating existing modules, with expert learning design input from Mark Parry. Don't forget that several of our modules have CPD accreditation with ACRRM and AMA CPDHome. Please tell your friends and colleagues and you can share the 10% discount for newsletter subscribers with them: use the code "newsletter" for 10% off one of the one hour online modules.
Recommendation of the month
It seems like the use of AI scribes in healthcare is becoming more and more normalised, but there has been little research on how these are used in practice. This month's recommendation is a review paper on the implications of ambient AI scribes in healthcare, which concludes that the general acceptance of AI scribes being a net positive in consultations has resulted in insufficient critical attention to the broader impact of their introduction.
Patient advocacy
This week it's Women's Health Week run by the Jean Hailes organisation. Along with daily themed posts and videos, they also share a story of a woman with who experienced the all too common delay in diagnosis for endometriosis (something that I have also experienced). In the video, Lotte Weber emphasises the importance of giving people the language to advocate for themselves. Over the years I’ve been asked to provide advice to or to make resources for patients numerous times. I’ve generally avoided it because it’s part of the professional role of a clinician to be an effective communicator. I recognise however, the value in supporting people in how they approach their consultations, so we are now starting to develop a free online module for patients, families, carers about communication in healthcare to support patient advocacy in the clinic. Please get in touch if you'd like to be involved.
Social media and blog posts
We've been building our online presence through blog posts and on different social media platforms. You can follow both me and Bedside Manners on social media:
Me: Instagram, BlueSky, YouTube, LinkedIn
Bedside Manners: Instagram, LinkedIn
Keep chatting!
Sarah
p.s. We’re looking to grow what Bedside Manners can offer, and to do that it would be very helpful if you could leave us a Google review if you have taken an online module or course, had a coaching session, used our research services, or attended one of our workshops or presentations. Following Bedside Manners across the social media platforms linked above would also be a great help.