The candidate card
Setting
Home visit
Candidate
You are a general practitioner on a home visit to review a 76-year-old man with advanced Parkinson's disease. He is now resting in the bedroom. His wife, Mrs Carmen Escobar, aged 72, is his only carer. She looks exhausted and moves stiffly, and she mentions that she hurt her back helping him out of his chair a few days ago. She has not slept properly for several weeks.
Task (interlocutor: carer)
- Find out how Mrs Escobar is coping (her back, her sleep, the daily caring routine, moving her husband)
- Explain your concerns about her own health and the risks to both of them if things continue as they are
- Reassure her that accepting help does not mean abandoning her husband
- Explain the support available (help at home, equipment and advice for transfers, short-term respite, carer support services)
- Agree a plan (keeping both of them safe from today, a prompt review of her back, when to seek urgent help)
In the test you get 3 minutes to read the card and plan, then about 5 minutes to talk. This card is original, written for this site; the interlocutor's card is not shown.
How to approach this card
- Speak to her away from her husband if possible, and begin with her, not his condition. Ask about her back, sleep and the daily routine, including how she moves him. She is likely to put his needs first, so ask directly about hers.
- Name your concern as being about both of them: her injury and exhaustion make transfers riskier for her and for him. Say this without blame, as she has been doing what she thought she had to do.
- Address the likely guilt about accepting help early. Frame help as keeping him safely at home and keeping her well enough to care. Find out what she fears it would mean, rather than assume.
- Describe the support in order of what helps soonest: help at home, equipment and advice for transfers, short-term respite and carer support services. Match it to what she tells you and avoid reeling off a list.
- Agree what keeps both safe from today, such as how transfers will be done until help arrives, and arrange a prompt review of her back. Tell her clearly when to seek urgent help, using the complete advice from local guidance.
Phrases to adapt
Use your own words; these show the register, not lines to memorise.
- You look worn out. How have you been looking after yourself?
- Asking for help does not mean you are letting your husband down.
- I am concerned about you, and about both of you staying safe.
- Which of these would make the biggest difference to you right now?
Medical words in plain English
| Term | How you might say it to the patient |
|---|---|
| respite care | A short break where someone else cares for your husband so you can rest. |
| transfers | Moving him from bed to chair, or chair to toilet, safely. |
| carer support services | Services that offer carers practical help, advice and someone to talk to. |
How this card is marked
Two assessors mark the recording on nine criteria: intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language and resources of grammar and expression (each 0–6), then relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving (each 0–3). Grade B usually means 5 on each language criterion and 2 on each clinical one. See the AI Speaking practice guide for what each criterion looks for.
More Medicine role-play cards
- New type 2 diabetes: reluctant to start medication General practice
- First febrile convulsion: frightened parent Emergency department, paediatric area
- Acute low back pain: patient demanding a scan and strong painkillers General practice
All sets: nurses, doctors, other professions. Your profession's guide: OET Medicine.
Questions about this role-play
What if she refuses all help?
Do not push for full acceptance. Find out the specific fear, then ask for one small step, such as equipment advice or a back review. Leave the offer open and agree when you will check in again, while being clear about the safety risk.
How do I raise the risk without frightening or blaming her?
Describe it as a shared problem: her injury and lack of sleep make lifting and night-time care riskier for both of them. Credit what she has done, and present the changes as a way to continue caring safely.
How should I discuss her back?
Ask how it happened, how it limits her and what helps. Arrange a prompt review rather than treating it on the doorstep, and give clear guidance on when to seek urgent help, using the full list from local guidance, not a partial one.
Sources
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