© 1992 Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom
research-article |
Home from hospital: a survey of hospital discharge arrangements in Northamptonshire
Jill R. Meara, Director of Public Health
Julie L. Wood, Director of Planning and Review
Mary A. Wilson, Assistant UGM (Community)
Mike C. Hart, Principal Lecturer
Department of Public Health Medicine, Northampton Health Authority District Headquarters, Highfield, Cliftonville Road, Northampton NN1 5DN
Northamptonshire FHSA
St Edmund's Hospital Northampton
Department of Public Policy and Managerial Studies, Leicester Polytechnic Leicester
Address correspondence to Dr J. Meara
The timeliness and adequacy of inpatient discharge communication between hospitals and general practitioners (GPs) in Northamptonshire was examined by a postal questionnaire survey of GPs of patients recently discharged from hospital, with the aim of improving the co-ordination of discharge procedures, and hence improving continuity of care. The questionnaire measured when and how the GP was informed of the discharge, and examined the adequacy of medical, therapeutic and social details in the discharge documents sent out by the hospital. It was found that 67 per cent of discharges had been notified to the GP by the hospital within five days of discharge. With notable exceptions the discharge documents were considered timely. General practitioners were less satisfied with the adequacy of discharge communication in terms of ‘social’ topics such as transport needs, social services back-up, and whether a patient with a malignancy knew about his or her diagnosis. The GPs of patients under geriatricians were more satisfied with the quality of discharge documents. Comparison with an earlier study suggested that the speed of communication and involvement of GPs in discharge in Northamptonshire is not as satisfactory as that found in Oxford in 1986. It was concluded that within the county there appear to be models of good practice in terms of discharge communication with GPs. These standards should be adopted by other specialties to match or improve on existing good practice.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. Kripalani, F. LeFevre, C. O. Phillips, M. V. Williams, P. Basaviah, and D. W. Baker Deficits in Communication and Information Transfer Between Hospital-Based and Primary Care Physicians: Implications for Patient Safety and Continuity of Care JAMA, February 28, 2007; 297(8): 831 - 841. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. Mcinnes, M. Mira, N. Atkin, P. Kennedy, and J. Cullen Can GP input into discharge planning result in better outcomes for the frail aged: results from a randomized controlled trial Fam. Pract., June 1, 1999; 16(3): 289 - 293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|