Patients who are more engaged in their care don’t just feel better about their healthcare experience – studies show they achieve better health outcomes. Yet a new survey of 2,000 UK patients, commissioned by Semble and released ahead of Patient Safety Day (17th September), reveals a serious barrier: unclear, inconsistent, or delayed communication is adversely impacting health with 61% of patients reporting that their mental health has been negatively affected. Poor communication – which is often out of clinicians’ hands due to administrative constraints – can lead to a lack of engagement and fundamentally highlights a critical gap in trust, which is core to patient safety.

Lack of communication can quickly erode trust, and the survey shows where this leads: more than a third of patients (38%) feel uncomfortable raising information they’ve found online with their clinician, while only 13% feel “very comfortable” doing so. Without open dialogue, patients risk leaving concerns unaddressed and misinformation unchallenged.

Christoph Lippuner, CEO and co-founder of Semble, commented: “Patient safety is fundamentally about preventing harm. Building real trust and openness between patient and clinician is a crucial part of that – and something that patients are telling us they want more of.”