POSITIVE PRACTICE: Prolapsing paper piles and a song for surgery - Problems drafting a leaflet cause Dr Stuart Handysides to reflect on communication - past, present and future.

Many years ago, when practice leaflets first became mandatory, I initially felt quite positive about them. I sent off to the RCGP for their guidance and drafted the leaflet for our practice.

I used a manual typewriter, tacked four A4 sheets together, glued in a hand-drawn map of the practice area and took it all down to a local photocopying shop, where they reduced it all onto a single sheet of A4.

Somehow I have now found myself lumbered with the job of revising the practice leaflet in my new practice. And once again I am discovering that unless you keep it simple it can flush out all sorts of problems.

For example, a system works perfectly well …