Isn't it Time that UK Family Doctors Embraced Email Services for their Patients?

The UK government sees the use of email contact and e-consultations as a means of boosting patient access to primary care and is piloting these services in 20 general practices in England. It has mandated email communication for repeat prescriptions and appointment booking in the latest general practice contract and stipulated that patients should be able to communicate electronically with their health and social care team by 2015.

But wider use of email is not compulsory, and primary care doctors have been slow to embrace this form of technology for communicating with their patients.

With good reason, contends Emma Richards, academic GP registrar and honorary clinical research fellow, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College, London. Despite its enthusiasm for the medium, the government has failed to issue guidance for doctors on email communication with patients, she says.

"The idea that patients can email unlimited requests and questions fills many GPs with dread not only in terms of time but also clinical safety," she writes.

The evidence from telephone consultations indicates that they don't replace face to face appointments; rather, they increase them, she says.

And unlike phone calls, where a doctor can pick up aural cues about a patient's health and ask pertinent questions, that sort of exchange isn't possible in an email, she insists.

The inevitable delay in answering an email could also prove disastrous for a suicidal patient or one with chest pain, she suggests.

And she worries that email access will potentially widen health inequalities, as those most in need of healthcare, such as the elderly, may struggle to use this option because of lack of know-how or facilities.

But Elinor Gunning, a locum family doctor in London and a clinical teaching fellow in the Department of Primary Care and Population Health at UCL Medical School, insists that email services can work well, when properly planned and managed.

An email triaging system, a secure server, and patient consent, as well as ensuring that both patients and clinicians understand the limitations of email and which kinds of inquiries are best suited to this medium, are essential, she says.

"Patients must be made aware that emails may not be read immediately. The terms and conditions of email use can be covered comprehensively when consent for email use is taken, and reiterated in each email response," she writes.

Many of the concerns raised about email services can be applied to phone and fax - now regarded as established and trusted components of general practice, she says.

She agrees that not everyone will be able to access or readily use email, but it's up to general practice to provide as many means of access as possible "to improve care for all," she suggests.

"Although more research, investment, and official guidelines are needed, sufficient strategies already exist to support the safe implementation of email services," she writes.

More to the point: email use will soon be inevitable, she says. If doctors don't embrace it now, they may "miss out on a vital opportunity to shape [it], to the detriment of patients and clinicians."

Most Popular Now

Philips Foundation 2024 Annual Report: E…

Marking its tenth anniversary, Philips Foundation released its 2024 Annual Report, highlighting a year in which the Philips Foundation helped provide access to quality healthcare for 46.5 million people around...

Giving Doctors an AI-Powered Head Start …

Detection of melanoma and a range of other skin diseases will be faster and more accurate with a new artificial intelligence (AI) powered tool that analyses multiple imaging types simultaneously...

Scientists Argue for More FDA Oversight …

An agile, transparent, and ethics-driven oversight system is needed for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to balance innovation with patient safety when it comes to artificial intelligence-driven medical...

AI Agents for Oncology

Clinical decision-making in oncology is challenging and requires the analysis of various data types - from medical imaging and genetic information to patient records and treatment guidelines. To effectively support...

Start-ups in the Spotlight at MEDICA 202…

17 - 20 November 2025, Düsseldorf, Germany. MEDICA, the leading international trade fair and platform for healthcare innovations, will once again confirm its position as the world's number one hotspot for...

AI Detects Hidden Heart Disease Using Ex…

Mass General Brigham researchers have developed a new AI tool in collaboration with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to probe through previously collected CT scans and identify...

AI Medical Receptionist Modernizing Doct…

A virtual medical receptionist named "Cassie," developed through research at Texas A&M University, is transforming the way patients interact with health care providers. Cassie is a digital-human assistant created by Humanate...

Using Data and AI to Create Better Healt…

Academic medical centers could transform patient care by adopting principles from learning health systems principles, according to researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and the University of California, San Diego. In...

AI Tool Set to Transform Characterisatio…

A multinational team of researchers, co-led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, has developed and tested a new AI tool to better characterise the diversity of individual cells within...

Human-AI Collectives Make the Most Accur…

Diagnostic errors are among the most serious problems in everyday medical practice. AI systems - especially large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT-4, Gemini, or Claude 3 - offer new ways...

MHP-Net: A Revolutionary AI Model for Ac…

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer globally and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Accurate segmentation of liver tumors is a crucial step for the management of the...

Highland Marketing Announced as Official…

Highland Marketing has been named, for the second year running, the official communications partner for HETT Show 2025, the UK's leading digital health conference and exhibition. Taking place 7-8 October...