Coroner: doctors face "worrying" tick-box culture
The coroner, Dr Radcliffe, told the inquest:
"We live in an age where there is an assumption that if it isn't written down, it isn't done, so we can have a situation where doctors do very little in their consultation but have perfect records".
She said: "We can have perfectly good consultations with doctors that cover the ground ... being no good on paper simply because they have not ticked every box which is worrying."
"Essentially GPs now, and most doctors, have to practice defensive medicine in that they have to write lengthy notes.....One would rather they were spending the time assessing individuals and communicating with the family."
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