The HPB Clinic: Do Patients Want a Copy of Their Clinic Letter?

The NHS plan published by the Department of Health (DH) in 2000 recommended that patients should receive copies of all clinician-generated correspondence written about them. Concerns from many groups delayed widespread implementation of the policy and a committee set up under the NHS Modernisation Board recommended that further research was required in this area prior to rolling out the policy fully. Good practice guidelines on copying letters to patients were subsequently produced by the DH in 2001.