The Medical Protection Society (MPS) is concerned by the increasing expectations on doctors in relation to the volume and complexity of guidelines and protocols they receive. The unfocussed, and often lengthy, documents are putting extra pressure on doctors in an already stretched working environment.
There is an expectation of doctors to have local knowledge about every subject, and this is a wholly unrealistic and unnecessary source of pressure
MPS reviewed the 15 guidelines issued to GPs by key organisations during October 2011. MPS’s main concern is the wide-ranging, and untailored, subjects – everything from guidance for CQC inspectors on equality and human rights to the public health risks of Fish Pedicures.
A further concern is the length of documents, with the majority over 30 pages, and often exceeding 100 pages across multiple documents for some sets of guidance. This is on top of the requirement for doctors to keep up to date with developments in their area of clinical expertise.
Dr Stephanie Bown, Director of Policy and Communications at MPS says: “The tsunami of unfocused guidelines and protocols received each month is undermining their value.
“There is an expectation of doctors to have local knowledge about every subject, and this is a wholly unrealistic and unnecessary source of pressure.
Often the guidelines are so specialised that it is not relevant to all doctors’ practice
“It is absolutely right that a doctor keeps abreast of new and emerging developments in their field of practice, but to expect a high level of awareness of everything is impractical and unnecessarily burdensome. More should be done to help doctors identify and focus on the information that is relevant to their practice.”
Dr John Adams, Associate Medicolegal Adviser at MPS and practising hospital doctor says: “Often the guidelines are so specialised that it is not relevant to all doctors’ practice. The danger is that doctors may receive so many emails of varying importance that the most crucial information is being missed.
Distributing the guidelines in a summarised email could allow the reader to electronically ‘tick’ when they have read the information
“One way to make it more effective would be to tailor the guidance to specific specialities and to provide a summary of key points with all documents – some guidance includes a summary, but not all.
“A co-ordinated approach could also work well, such as a summary of guidelines from all organisations for a set period of time that the doctor could browse and select the most relevant items.
“Distributing the guidelines in a summarised email could allow the reader to electronically ‘tick’ when they have read the information, allowing the sender to gauge whether the information is getting to the necessary target group.
“It is important that doctors are able to dedicate their time and energies to fulfilling their core role as doctors, and are not unreasonably expected to know things outside their field of knowledge, expertise and responsibility.”
MPS will continue to monitor this issue and will seek to make recommendations for more streamlined communications with relevant organisations.
MPS contributes to a range of consultations on guidance that affects doctors, to ensure it is clear and relevant.
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