Why are we still so bad at providing patients with information? Despite the best efforts of some health professionals, communication is often patchy, many questions are never asked for want of an opportunity or for fear of appearing demanding, and answers can be contradictory and confusing. As a result, patients and their families are all too often cast as supplicants, scrabbling for crumbs from medicine’s high table. All of which stands in the way of their ability to understand what’s happening and to be active in decisions about their health. How could we do better?

Tessa …