The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7430 p681
9 December 2006

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Call for doctors to improve their handwriting

Doctors need to make a commitment to write more legibly, say academics writing in this month's Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (2006;99:645). They argue that deciphering illegible notes is still a problem in the UK, despite the issue being known about for some years. “The considerable time and frustration associated with this detective work far outweighs the extra effort needed to dot an ‘i’ or cross a ‘t’,” they say.

The academics propose a number of measures that would address the problem: IT systems to computerise patient notes, handwriting tests and US-style penmanship classes for medical staff. However, they conclude that a less daunting and more economical solution is possible: a New Year’s resolution to write legibly.

The editorial forms part of a series published under the banner: “Inconvenient truths”. Another argues that the threat of global terrorism needs to be put in perspective, given the number of preventable deaths that occur daily from HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.