Empathy-based medicine re-establishes relationship as the heart of healthcare. Practitioners often complain that their capacity to practise empathically is undermined by ‘tyrannical guidelines’,1 insufficient time and an ever-increasing burden of paperwork.2 Clinicians often see this system as lacking empathy – uninterested in practitioners’ perspectives, health or welfare. Within this context, it is unsurprising that NHS staff have significant work-related stress and ill health.3 As a result, patients suffer, claiming clinicians do not communicate adequately, often leaving their needs and concerns insufficiently addressed.4
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