Email is an accepted part of modern communication in business and education. The use of email could benefit communication between patients and healthcare professionals. Use of email within health care has been hampered by concerns about privacy, technical barriers, perceived fear of change and increased workload.Sixty-two general practitioners within Dundee in east Scotland responded to a questionnaire and indicated that they regularly used email for communication within their practices and with outside agencies, but rarely with patients. Many perceived a need to provide an email service for clinical enquiries and repeat prescription requests but felt constrained from doing so by a lack of an accepted system and workload concerns.