Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2008) 14: 441-451. doi: 10.1192/apt.bp.106.003228
© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Using written information in clinical work with patients and carers

Philip Timms, Rosalind Ramsay and Roslyn Byfield

Philip Timms is a consultant psychiatrist who works with homeless people in South London (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London SW5 8AZ, UK. Email: philip.timms{at}slam.nhs.uk). He is also Chair of the editorial group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Public Education Committee. Rosalind Ramsay is a consultant psychiatrist who works with a primary care liaison team in south London. She has contributed to several books aimed at the general public and is a member of the editorial group of the College’s Public Education Committee. Roslyn Byfield is the Patient Information Strategy Implementation Manager at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and ran the Lambeth Information Project, an innovative attempt to introduce patient information into clinical areas.

In all areas of medicine there is increasing awareness that patients need information that is clear, relevant and appropriately timed. This is obviously connected with ethical concerns of patient dignity and autonomy, but it also underpins the principle of informed choice. It is not possible to make an informed choice about how you want a problem to be managed, if you do not have the relevant information. Doctors have, historically, been poor communicators of such information. Although, on the face of it, this seems a straightforward issue to rectify, there are a surprising number of practical problems to be addressed before such communication can become a reality in daily practice.