GPs often obtain best patient history; their opinions deserve respect

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PRACTICE

GPs often obtain best patient history; their opinions deserve respect

Gaeline Phipps

Gaeline Phipps

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The importance of being open to other ideas and the benefit of seeking opinions is clear

Medicolegal

When referring a patient to specialist care in hospital, GPs rightly expect their notes and concerns will be given weight and, if dismissed, this is done on a scientific rather than subjective basis. A tragic outcome ensued when this did not occur in a case described here by Wellington barrister Gaeline Phipps

Galileo Galilei is credited with writing “In ques­tions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individu