The first consultation for me is a very important moment between me and the patient. That’s the time when the patient decides whether they like me, it’s the time when I decide whether I like the patient and it is important that we both get on, more importantly we have to kind of understand each other. So, I start the consultation usually by just trying to break the ice, make the patient feel comfortable, hopefully let them relax because they usually arrive late, they’ve been round the M25, they’re a bit stressed, and they just need to calm down and relax. And then we can get to the point of discussing what their concerns are. It is very important to be able to listen to them, and actually really hear what they are trying to say, not just imagine what you expect them to say, it’s actually really listening to what their concerns are.
And then I go through a process of discussing how plastic surgery works, what it can do, specific to their problem. What I am trying to do is get them to understand a little bit about how plastic surgery works, so that I am trying to manage their expectations so they don’t get the wrong impression of what plastic surgery can offer. So the first consultation for me is absolutely crucial, that is when that whole relationship starts to build, the patient and I get to trust and be confident with each other, so that as we go through we can make some sensible decisions and hopefully by the time we have the second consultation we are in a position to make a final surgical plan that we think is going to get a good outcome.
In general, with cosmetic surgery procedures, we have a sort of rule of thumb, in that there should be a full two weeks between the initial consultation and surgery, preferably a little bit longer, and that is designed really to give the patient a chance to reflect so that they don’t feel bamboozled by the excitement and science and just jump into surgery before they have thought it through. And secondly that we always aim to have a second consultation, and that actually is good for both the patient and for me, I find at the second consultation I get a chance to look at the patient again, chat to them a little bit more about their concerns, re-examine them, and I sometimes slightly adjust my surgical plan at the second consultation because for me it’s an opportunity just to review the situation and the patient once again has had my letter from the first consultation and have had chance to think it through and sometimes they change their mind a little bit about what they want, so usually that would be 2 or 3 weeks later, and at that point after the second consultation we are usually ready to book the surgery. Occasionally a patient wants to come back a third time before they make that decision, which is fine.
