Tobias Renn saw nine different clinicians in one year, and told the ninth a story he had already told the other eight.

Ten minutes is not enough and everyone in the building knows it. The question the practice asked was what ten minutes is actually best spent on.

What continuity is worth

The change was administrative rather than clinical. Certain patients were flagged to a named clinician, and the booking system stopped offering them anyone else.

Every retelling is a chance to lose something. We were making patients do our handovers for us.

Dr. Priya Ramanathan, general practice

What the practice changed

The referral letter was rewritten to lead with the question rather than the history, which cut a round of clarification out of most onward pathways.

He has seen the same clinician for eleven of his last twelve appointments. “She knows what I’m like when I’m well. That’s the useful part.”

Contributing writer

Dr. Priya Ramanathan

A demonstration byline created for this prototype. Not a real writer, and not a clinician.

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