Writing outpatient letters to patients

How good are doctors at plain English?

“…Rayner and colleagues encourage hospital doctors to address their outpatient clinic letters not to general practitioners but to patients and, crucially, to write them in language that patients can understand 1. “Use plain English where possible,” say the guidelines that the authors helped create.…”

Remember the value of outpatient letters for integrated care

“…As a primary care dean with educational responsibility for transforming the primary care workforce, I was disappointed to read Rayner and colleagues’ article on writing outpatient letters to patients from solely a secondary care perspective 1. I endorse their proposal to promote patients’ understanding of their health and management; my patients frequently ask me to translate the technical language in these letters.…”

Writing to patients can cause upset

“…Rayner and colleagues present an interesting summary of the essentials of writing outpatient letters to patients 1. This is perhaps one of the last frontiers of delivering personalised care to patients in the UK.…”