Communication in Medical Practice - Surfeit or Dearth

Abstract

Some twenty years ago concerns were expressed about the standards of communication within the medical profession in the United Kingdom, and the ethical implications of failure in this area (1). Practical measures for improvement which were within the capacity of the profession to introduce were suggested. Since then, profound changes have taken place in the availability of medical information and in the training of doctors, both in developed and developing countries. The sheer volume of information now available by mail, meetings, conferences, courses, mass media, including the internet, tele-medicine and so on, has led some doctors to complain that saturation point has been exceeded, with the dawn of a new era of over-communication. Have such changes led to improved communication within the medical profession and increased public satisfaction with doctors?