Nurses should call doctors by their first names to prevent patient deaths, says Jeremy Hunt

Nurses should call doctors by their first names to prevent patient deaths, says Jeremy Hunt Nurses must be allowed to address senior doctors by their first names in order to prevent fatal medical errors, Jeremy Hunt has said.

The Health Secretary said medicine’s strict hierarchy was stopping junior staff speaking up when they notice disasters unfolding and that doing away with formality in operating theatres and other settings was crucial to saving more lives.

He told an international conference on patient safety that health was one of the last professions yet to fully adopt the use of first names. The Daily Telegraph