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LETTERS: David A de Berker Theme issue for patients: Why does the media want to lead doctors? BMJ 2003; 327: 448-c [Full text]

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Voice of common sense

Diane-Marie Campbell   (22 August 2003)

Voice of common sense 22 August 2003
Diane-Marie Campbell, itinerant emergency physician Australia Send response to journal: Re: Voice of common sense	Thank you! I like to maintain patient information sheets which are different to my doctor's letters. A first consultation (often the last, if one is an Emergency Physician) may generate a list of differential diagnoses, some not excluded at the time of discharge. One may suggest that the referring doctor checks out some of these, and sometimes he will have already done so and one's suggestions are irrelevent. None of this is "secret" from the patient - but there is no time for the detailed explanations of common abbreviations or of the unlikely diseases to be readily ruled out, that is sometimes demanded. Most patients do not want this. And "my" time is in fact not "my" time in working hours - it has been paid for by my employer, who expects me to apportion it as needed. It isn't fair to other patients, whether they are in the waiting room or waiting for an appointment, if the first customers have unlimited question time about diseases they don't have. Oh- and no, I can't reasonably avoid abbreviations and jargon. In common with most emergency physicians, at least in this country, I must type or write my own letters. Competing interests:   None declared