Let patients see correspondence, says DH

The Department of Health will be writing to primary care professional bodies, urging them to encourage members to copy patients into correspondence between clinicians.

Patients are already entitled to view correspondence relating to their care under The NHS Plan (2000) which says: “Letters between clinicians about individual patient’s care will be copied to the patient as of right”, but GPs have not actively encouraged this sharing, leaving patients in the dark.

Health minister, Rosie Winterton, will be sending a letter to organisations including the Royal College of Nursing, British Medical Association, General Practitioners Committee and NHS Confederation, as well as voluntary organisations such as Cancerbackup and the Long Term Medical Conditions Alliance. It will ask them to help patients become more informed about their condition so that they can make better decisions about their own healthcare.

The move follows a recent Department of Health survey, in which nearly seven out of 10 patients referred to a specialist in the last year said they had not received any copies of correspondence, with only a quarter saying that they had received copies of all letters.

The PCT Patient Survey of 2005/06, published last month, revealed that 68% of patients (who had been referred from their GP to a specialist in the previous 12 months) received no copies of correspondence between their GP and hospital. 7% received some letters, and 25% received them all.

Winterton said: “Copying letters to patients is at the heart of creating a partnership between patients and their clinicians – it helps patients share in the decision making process about their care and make informed choices. One of the issues that patients frequently raise with me is that this is not happening nearly enough.

“Too few patients are routinely copied into their clinicians’ letters and so are kept out of the loop on their care. The knock-on effect of this is that patients cannot participate fully in decisions about their care.”

The DH believe that patients will be able to make better decisions about their condition and healthcare if they were aware of the content of letters sent between clinicians.

Winterton will also invite the professional bodies to take part in a round table discussion to agree a consensus on how to push this issue forward.

A DH spokesperson told EHI Primary Care: “Copying letters to patients helps to establish more trust between patients and healthcare professionals, ensure patients are better informed so better able to make informed decisions about treatment options and to support self care and management, gives patients written confirmation of what was said at consultations and what action is being taken, and promotes better compliance, as patients who understand their treatment are more likely to follow medical advice.”

Cancerbackup’s chief executive, Joanne Rule, said: “Most patients want to see what is written about their condition and treatment – it’s hopelessly old-fashioned to be excluded like this. Cancer patients say that access to letters helps them to share information about their treatment history and also to ask further questions.

“Access to letters would improve communication because no one should read news they haven’t already been told and more attention would be paid to clear, jargon-free writing styles. I wholeheartedly support this ministerial initiative.”