Wales to stamp out medical scrawl

Doctors and nurses in Wales are going to have to use stamps as well as their signature in a bid to combat illegible scrawled signatures on patient notes.

The initiative is being introduced because some clinicians signatures are not legible. The stamp will be used along with signatures.

Dr Andrew Dearden of the BMA said legible handwriting was a patient safety issue and that a move towards computerised communication was needed.

According to a BBC report staff at the North Wales NHS Trust area will be given the rubber stamps to ensure those who fill in patient records can be more easily identified.

Trust medical director Dr David Gozzard said: "Some signatures can be illegible. It can be quite troublesome if you need to trace who wrote the notes."

The name stamps are expected to cost £4 to £5 each and are likely to include the staff member's name and General Medical Council number.