My patient wants to record our appointment, what should I do?
BMJ 2019; 364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1101 (Published 19 March 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;364:l1101
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I can definitely see the value in patients recording consultations for the reasons given.
However there are consultations which as a clinician I would like recorded. I would welcome routine audio-recording of all GP consultations as part of the patient's computer record.
Misunderstandings and complaints can sometimes relate to things the patient has forgotten or misinterpreted, through no fault of the doctor. Rarely a complaint may even be vexatious and fabricated. A recorded consultation would potentially prevent this.
Do we have the same rights as patients when it comes to requesting recording of the consultation?
Competing interests: No competing interests
Recording of consultations would inevitably become an accepted norm in near future [1]. But recording of the consultations could lead to erosion of physician patient trust. This is because the recordings would curtail spontaneity. Words would be carefully chosen and sanitised words would appear less empathetic and a tad inauthentic. Physicians might sound like the Politicians trying to say the right words on the television.
Furthermore, as audio recordings become routine, it could be followed by demand for video recordings. Subsequently, the question of live streaming the consultation arises because it would allow friends and family members to be virtually present at the consultation.
As new technology leads to more virtual Physician Patient consultations, recording of consultations might become automatic. A man being informed that he is dying through a video robot is one of the many unintended consequences [2]. Unfortunately, the technology is here to stay and it is better to embrace it with rules that that are fair and acceptable to everyone.
References
1 Rimmer A. My patient wants to record our appointment, what should I do? BMJ 2019;364:l1101. doi:10.1136/bmj.l1101
2 Doctor tells man he’s dying via video robot. 2019.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47510038 (accessed 20 Mar 2019).
Competing interests: No competing interests
My experience of recording GP consultations: positive.
Dear Editor,
The subject of recording consultations was discussed three years ago by McCartney. (1) I posted a rapid response setting out my positive experience of routinely recording consultations. (2)
This positive experience continued since 2016 until 2018 when my practice was closed. The benefits of having a complete record of the consultation and the few times it has helped to clarify a complaint or patient query far outweighed any time it has taken to make the recordings. It also supported another investigation into my clinical practice by NHS England in 2017, where an assessor was able to listen to a number of random consultations and report on the quality of care provided, and refute false allegations I was facing at the time.
I submitted a development request to include the option for audio recording consultations to the provider of our electronic patient record, however this was sadly never taken up.
(1) https://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i5674
(2) https://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i5674/rr-3 Excuses for the typing error in the title: Audio recordings of consultations.
Competing interests: No competing interests