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15
Feb 2019
GPs told to use email instead of letters
Health secretary Matt Hancock has said that by 2021, he expects GPs to routinely communicate to patients by email rather than sending letters.
He added that he could see no reason why prescriptions and test results could not be emailed to patients, although letters could still be sent to those who do not use email.
Mr Hancock went on to say “Having to deal with outdated technology is hugely frustrating for staff and patients alike – and in many cases downright dangerous.
“A letter lost in the post could be the difference between life and death.
“There is no reason why a doctor cannot email a patient confidentially, for example with their test results or prescription, rather than make them wait days for a letter or ask them to come in to the surgery.
“The rest of the world runs on email – and the NHS should too.”
Chair of the Royal College of GPs Dr Helen Stokes-Lampard, said “Aspirations to use less paper and more modern communication techniques to improve the way we work with colleagues and improve patients’ experience of the health service are good.
“But the practicalities of how we do it need to be thought through carefully – current IT systems in the NHS are often clunky and frustrating.
“But there isn’t an easy fix and it is difficult to see how the wholesale changes being advocated can be done safely in the timescales being spoken about.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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