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• The patient, too must be on the same page as the team
  oscar,m jolobe
  Published on: 13 June 2014

• Published on: 13 June 2014

  The patient, too must be on the same page as the team

  • oscar,m jolobe, retired geriatrician

  When Professor Weller and her colleagues speak of members of the team being "on the same page"(1) no mention is made of the patient(or the patient's advocate)(2) being also on the identical page. To facilitate the inclusion of the patient in the team I have proposed the use of an abbreviated patient-held health record which essentially documents the problem list and the corresponding drug list, and this should be updated...

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  When Professor Weller and her colleagues speak of members of the team being "on the same page"(1) no mention is made of the patient(or the patient's advocate)(2) being also on the identical page. To facilitate the inclusion of the patient in the team I have proposed the use of an abbreviated patient-held health record which essentially documents the problem list and the corresponding drug list, and this should be updated each time the patient attends a healthcare facility(3). So as to mitigate the risk of inadvertent adverse drug interactions, the community pharmacist, too, needs to be on the same page as the patient. Accordingly, each time new medication is prescribed, the patient should be advised to take his abbreviated patient-held record with him so that he can spell out to the pharmacist what his current medications are(4). Finally, in recognition of the potential for the hierarchical structure to generate "disastrous consequences"(1), patient-related correspondence from secondary care to primary care must include a copy to the patient so that the patient can compile his own medical file, which he can then carry with him to complement the abbreviated patient-held record in the event of an admission(here or overseas) to a hospital other than his usual hospital. The patient can also refer to that medical file if he wants to correct factual inaccuracies which sometimes creep into the correspondence. At a stroke such measures would create a level playing field between the patient and the healthcare team, thereby mitigating the risk of disastrous consequences attributable to the hierarchical system. References (1)Weller J., Boyd M., Cumin D Teams, tribes, and patient safety: overcoming the barriers to effective teamwork in healthcare Postgrad Med J 2014;90:1490154 (2)Jolobe OMP Bridging the communication gap between healthcare providers and patients' advocates Brit J Hosp Med 2012;73:654 (3)Jolobe OMP The abbreviated patient-held health record: bridging the communication gap Brit J Hosp Med 2012;73:234 (4) Jolobe OMP Can phrmacists help prevent adverse drug ineractions from newly prescribed drugd Br J Hosp Med 2009;70:360

  Conflict of Interest:

  None declared

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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