Scotland's chief medical officer has called for increased efforts to tackle over-treatment and patients to be more involved in decision making.
In her first annual report since taking on the position, Dr Catherine Calderwood argued that healthcare must deliver "true value" for patients and move away from the traditional "doctor knows best" model.
She said: "Doctors generally choose less treatment for themselves than they provide for their patients.
"In striving to provide relief from disability, illness and death, modern medicine may have overreached itself and is now causing hidden harm – or at best providing some care that is of lesser value.
"We must deliver healthcare that focuses on true value to the patient. Waste in healthcare should be assessed not in terms of what might be thrown away, but in interventions that don’t add value for patients."
The medic also claimed patients and doctors should "combine their expertise" and become more comfortable with "sharing the power and responsibility of decision-making".
Dr Calderwood added that while doctors are working in challenging times, they still hold influence and can be a driver for change in the health service.
However, BMA Scotland warned that low morale and intense workloads are likely to impact on how well doctors respond to a changing service and growing patient demands.
Dr Peter Bennie, Chair of BMA Scottish Council, said: "Doctors want and expect to be innovators and leaders in improving outcomes for patients. To do this well, they need time in their busy working lives to learn, teach and reflect.
"But the ever increasing patient demand and level of vacancies means the BMA often hears from doctors that they do not have the appropriate time to do this."
The chief medical officer's report also looked at the overall picture of health in Scotland and revealed that smoking prevalence reduced to 20 per cent in 2014 in line with projections to cut it to 5 per cent by 2034.
The number of suicides also reduced significantly, with an 18 per cent reduction in the suicide rate between 2000-04 and 2010-14. In 2014, the number of suicides was the lowest in a single year since 1977.
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