When the "Doctor/patient" was essentially a one to one relationship, a Doctor's medical notes were often little more than an "aide memoire" to himself.
As the practice of medicine has grown steadily more complex, it has tended to become more concentrated in the large Hospitals, and to rely on increasing numbers of Medical, Nursing and Allied Health Professionals for its effective delivery.
Patient documentation can no longer be merely a personal record, it must inform, communicate, be accessible for peer review and medical research, yet at the same time retain confidentiality, and in the last analysis stand-up in a Court of Law.
It is therefore hardly surprising that the Australian Council on Hospital Standards requires, as a basic standard for Accreditation, that individual medical records are current, accurate, readily available and confidential.