Stamps to combat medics' scrawls

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Medical staff in north Wales will have to use name stamps on patient notes because many signatures are so badly written they cannot be understood.

Staff working in the North Wales NHS Trust area are to be given the stamps to ensure those who fill in patient records can be more easily identified.

Medical director Dr David Gozzard said: "Some signatures can be illegible. It can be quite troublesome if you need to trace who wrote the notes."

The stamp will be used with signatures.

Dr Gozzard said he believed name stamps were already used in some hospitals but he felt more and more would soon be using them.

"The notes will still need to be signed but the name stamp will help identify people who signed them," he said.

Doctors aren't renowned for good handwriting. And it can only get worse with the increasing use of computers Dr David Gozzard

"Doctors aren't renowned for good handwriting. And it can only get worse with the increasing use of computers.

"My handwriting is good but I know some which look like a spiders written on the page.

"It's confusing if you need to trace who wrote the notes."

He said the name stamps would cost around £4 to £5 each and would most likely include the staff member's name and General Medical Council number.

'Cost adds up'

In a report for the trust, which covers health services from Conwy to Wrexham, Dr Gozzard says all doctors, nurses and other medical staff will have to use the name stamp when filling out patient information.

It is being rolled out across the trust and those who do not yet have a stamp will have to print their names underneath signatures.

Dr Gozzard said he believed the NHS as a whole should start using the stamps and that medical students should be given one on qualifying.

"This would ensure trusts don't have to keep buying the stamps," he added.

"£4 to £5 doesn't sound much but multiply by a couple of hundred and it soon starts to add up."

Dr Andrew Dearden of the British Medical Association (BMA) said that it was clear to both the BMA and the General Medical Council that legible handwriting was a patient safety issue.

And he added that a move towards computerised communication was needed.

"Members have been advised to use computers or to make sure that their handwriting is legible," he said.

"Name stamps would be a good interim step to address patient safety, provided we recognise that what we need to do in the long term is to move away from using paper and towards adopting an electronic form of communication."