A safe end-to-end workflow for clinic letters

Before you start

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. You will need: a fictional patient template, your usual letter template, and an AI tool you have signed in to.

1. Write your skeleton in your own system

   Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore. Type the bullets that capture the clinical picture — no names, no dates of birth, no hospital numbers.

2. De-identify before you paste

   Replace any potentially identifying detail with a generic placeholder such as “a woman in her sixties”. This is the step that protects the patient.

3. Ask the tool for a first draft

   Use the prompt below. Be specific about the audience and the desired length.

4. Read the draft critically

   Look for invented details: doses, dates, investigations. Cross-check against your own notes.

5. Edit and re-personalise inside your own system

   Paste the draft into your usual letter template. Re-add identifiers there, never in the AI tool.

6. Sign and send through normal channels

   The AI tool is a drafting aid only. The clinical responsibility and the sign-off remain yours.

The prompt to use in step 3

You are helping me draft a clinic letter to a general practitioner. The patient is described in general terms only — no identifiers. Use clear, plain English, around 250 words, in a respectful clinical tone.

Clinical picture:
- [paste your de-identified bullets here]

Please structure the letter as: greeting, summary of consultation, examination findings, plan, follow-up, signature placeholder.

Three small choices make this prompt work. It states the audience (a GP), the length (around 250 words), the tone, and the structure. AI tools handle vague prompts poorly; specific prompts give predictable results.

When not to use this

Ut enim ad minim veniam. If a letter touches a sensitive area — safeguarding, a complaint, a serious incident — draft it yourself. AI tools are best for routine, repetitive shapes of writing.