Be open and honest with patients, says Scotland’s chief medical officer

Attempts are being made in Scotland to empower patients to question their treatment options as the concept of “realistic medicine” is rolled out across the country.

It is based on the idea that overtreatment can lead to harm for patients and waste for the health service when more “realistic” options could produce better results.

Scotland’s chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, introduced the concept in her first annual report last year,1 resulting in a reception which she says was “universally positive,” producing …