Recently, I had reason to review the notes of a deceased patient. An unexpected death, I read over multiple consultations I’d had with him over the previous nine months. I was surprised at how broken my notes read – instead of flowing as I thought they would, they were more a collection of statements than a true narrative of the consultations.
If the point of note taking is to ensure that future readers can have a fuller understanding of the consultation, then perhaps a better way of recording notes is required. If I find it difficult to follow the flow of a consultation from my own notes, then surely someone else would find far more difficulty in doing so.