The successful treatment of our patients depends heavily on our ability to work well together. Good communication should sit at the heart of everything we do – and often many of the issues we face are the result of poor communication.

This document, which has been agreed by medical Royal Colleges in Northern Ireland*, intends to renew a sense of professional respect and assist in overcoming barriers in the future.The realities of workload pressures, waiting lists, service delays and patient demands means that everyone is working at maximum capacity across the health service. It is easy for clinicians to become absorbed in our own pressures and to forget that colleagues in other specialties or departments are facing internal burdens and challenging circumstances of their own, that are not always apparent.

It is worthwile reviewing these principles and discussing it with any students attached to your practice