Peter Howard Lovel Tate

Biography

Peter qualified as a doctor at Newcastle in 1968. After spells as a P&O Surgeon and as a trainee in Kentish Town: he was a family doctor in Abingdon for 30 years. He was an MRCGP examiner from 1981 and was responsible for the introduction of the Video module in 1996; he retired as Chief Examiner in March 2006. He was awarded the MBE for services to general medical practice in 2008. He wrote the first edition of The Doctor’s Communication Handbook in 1993 and has just published the 8th edition (August 2019), with Dr Francesca Frame as joint author. He is the author of The Other Side of Medicine, a collection of essays and short stories (2006). He has also published Seasickness, a novel based on his experiences as a young ship’s surgeon, The Seanachai an Irish Ghost Story and The Curatage Ghost a story for grandchildren. He was a co-author of The Consultation (1983) and The New Consultation (2003) OUP with David Pendleton, Theo Schofield and Peter Havelock. He has lectured widely on communication issues. He is now retired and lives with his artist wife Judy, in Poundbury, Dorchester.
Bedside Matters: a journey through doctor patient communication was published in Nov 2020.
This unique book draws upon a collection of essays and personal reflections by Dr Peter Tate, covering at least half a century of his experience of trying to understand, define and improve communication between doctors and patients. Adopting a light, conversational and often humorous tone, the book covers a broad range of situations encountered during the lead author’s career as a general practitioner, his seminal research into understanding doctor-patient communication, and his subsequent role in both teaching and developing the internationally-recognised Royal College of General Practice’s membership video examination. This book demonstrates that clinical experiences, both professional and personal, are fundamental to our perception of what is important and what matters most in medicine.
Key features:
• Unique and personal account of the development of this vital but often overlooked aspect of medicine
• Engaging and light-hearted, yet academically rigorous
• Draws on experiences gathered during clinical practice, research and teaching
• From the authors of the popular The Doctor’s Communication Handbook, now in its eighth edition
In reading Bedside Matters doctors, and particularly general practitioners, will not only learn from the author’s experiences, but will be encouraged to reflect on their own clinical and personal experiences, and to use these to better understand and improve their own communication techniques.

Education

Giggleswick School 1959 -63
MBBS Newcastle 1968

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Doctor Patient Communication.
Examining medical competence

Personal Interests

Megaliths, photography, writing.

Websites

• Facebook author page

• The Tates

Books

Articles

Photos

News