ABSTRACT
In many situations a telephone call is a much quicker and easier way of communicating than writing letters or going to see a person face to face. Whenever you are speaking to patients, relatives or hospital doctors on the phone, it is usually best to have the casenotes of the patient involved in front of you. It is only too easy to confuse patients’ case histories, and by not having the necessary background information available you run the risk of getting caught out at some stage and mixing up important details, which could be a little embarrassing at the very least. Many practices are now fully computerised, and sending email messages to partners and other team members is also a very useful way of relaying certain types of message.
