Last year, a new patient told me that their former GP had been “forced to retire” after steadfastly refusing to switch from pen and paper to using a computer to create patient notes.

The patient had diabetes and ischaemic heart disease, but brought with them no correspondence or even an HbA1c or cholesterol level from the past 12 years.

I could have asked for a copy of the paper notes, perhaps, but the chances of finding any useful information seemed slim.

Despite a small 2024 study claiming that doctors’ handwriting is no worse than that of other similarly educated professionals, we’ve all squinted at examples of colleagues’ handwriting that look more like the tracks of a drunken, ink-covered spider than actual words on a page.