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GPs' views on discharge summaries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

John Dunn*
Affiliation:
Lewisham and Guy's Mental Health NHS Trust, 59 Cordwell Road, London SE13 5QY
Stephen Burton
Affiliation:
Lewisham and Guy's Mental Health NHS Trust, 59 Cordwell Road, London SE13 5QY
*
Correspondence: 193 Ancona Road, Plumstead, London SE18 1AA
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Abstract

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Aims and method

After gaining the impression that our discharge summaries were too long for local general practitioners (GPs), we proposed to produce an abbreviated summary. We sent a questionnaire to a sample of GPs asking which aspects of the current summary were helpful.

Results

Although many GPs considered the summary overly long, a majority considered all the items to be at least Very helpful’.

Clinical implications

Although previous work on discharge summaries has indicated a demand for brief, focused reports it is important to establish local GP priorities before planning changes.

Type
Original papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

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Solomon, J. K., Maxwell, R. B. H. & Hopkins, A. P. (1995) Content of a discharge summary from a medical ward: views of general practitioners and hospital doctors. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 29. 307 310.Google ScholarPubMed
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