The impact of delayed paper communication to primary care from secondary care and out of hours services
| Autor: | Mayukh Bhattacharyya, Dominic Crocombe |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
business.industry
Medical record Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Retrospective cohort study Articles 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology medicine.disease documentation Secondary care 03 medical and health sciences Patient safety medical records 0302 clinical medicine Harm Documentation Out of hours Resource allocation (computer) Medicine 030212 general & internal medicine Medical emergency General practice business continuity of patient care |
| Zdroj: | London Journal of Primary Care |
| ISSN: | 1757-1480 1757-1472 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17571472.2018.1490314 |
| Popis: | The safe and effective treatment of patients accessing multiple NHS services relies upon efficient communication between primary care, secondary care, and out of hours providers. There is a theoretical risk to patient safety from delays in these processes, to which paper communications are particularly vulnerable. When letters are received they must be reviewed and prioritised in order of clinical importance, a process that requires both time and clinical resources. This is relevant to the challenge of resource allocation to maximise patient benefit. This retrospective study investigated the impact on patient safety of 249 clinical letters reporting routine clinical encounters in secondary care and out of hours services that were delayed by an average of 18–24 months to a suburban London general practice. No clinical harm could be attributed to the delay. This small study did not suggest delays in routine communications pose a significant risk to patient safety. Conversely, it questions the efficiency and benefit to patients of prioritising clinical time to reviewing routine letters. The adoption of fully integrated, shared electronic patient records with the function to highlight clinically urgent or important communications might ease clinician workload, to the ultimate benefit of patient care. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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