Food for Thought in an Acute Medicine Environment; Doctors’knowledge of Herbal Medicines Needs to be Better……

Introduction: Patients are increasingly taking herbal supplements for a variety of reasons. This has brought into question doctors knowledge about herbal medicines. Method: A cross-sectional web-based survey of 84 doctors working within the Department of Medicine at a District General Hospital was carried out looking at doctor’s knowledge about herbal medicines. Results: 53 doctors took part. Of these, the majority were trainees in Medicine (42) 79%. Only (15) 28% routinely ask patients about herbal medicine use when taking a drug history. Doctor’s knowledge about herbal Medicines was poor. Conclusion: We need to re-examine our current teaching programmes to ensure that education about common herbal medicines and important sources of information are provided to doctors to improve patient safety.