Medics fail to communicate

Doctors could be to blame for low levels of health literacy in the Lothians it has been suggested. It is estimated around a quarter of the local population struggles to fully understand letters from GPs and other medical instructions.

NHS Lothian director of public health, Dr Alison McCallum, said: “It is not just because some people have difficulty reading, but because much health communication routinely contains jargon and unfamiliar phrases.”