Keeping others in the loop

Dr Simon Pilbrow of Rosebud, Victoria, offers a small tip for those patients, usually elderly, who have a number of different specialists or allied health professionals treating them.

When referring to a specialist, he includes the list of “other treating doctors who may wish to receive copies of results or correspondence”.

This keeps specialists in the loop as to who else is looking after the patient, saves the GP having to collate correspondence/results for each referral cycle, and emphasises the GP’s central role in patient care.