Health minister Edith Schippers is recommending people record conversations with their doctors to make sure they don’t forget what they have been told.

The conversation should be recorded on a smart phone or similar device and used for personal information only, Schippers said.

‘Good care requires that doctors and patients agree about the treatment,’ Schippers said in a briefing to parliament. ‘And it is important that patients ask questions and doctors take the time to answer them.’

Doctors who don’t want to be recorded should then be required to provide the patient with written information, the minister said.