Keeping patients informed

Discharging a patient and arranging a follow-up

Warn patients about the risks before carrying out any procedures or prescribing medication

Ensure you are aware of your hospital’s practices and policies when communicating with GPs. If you are discharging a patient from hospital or from attendance at outpatient clinics, send the GP a letter containing all the information needed for continuing medical care.

Make sure that the letter is sent promptly. You might also consider that other professionals – such as a community paediatrician or health visitor – also need to be informed, but this should be on a need-to-know basis within the bounds of patient confidentiality and with the patient’s consent.

Patients who are kept informed about their condition, and are involved in deciding on the appropriate treatment, are more likely to comply with the treatment you suggest, and less likely to complain if things go wrong.

It is particularly important that you tell patients about the possible side-effects of drugs or treatment you are ordering, and that they know what complications to look out for and what to do if they develop.

Do not neglect to tell a patient you are discharging about arrangements you have made for follow-up care

Warn patients about the risks before carrying out any procedures or prescribing medication. “Informed” consent is dealt with in more detail in Medical Treatment in the UK – An MPS Guide.

Do not neglect to tell a patient you are discharging about arrangements you have made for follow-up care and give appropriate advice about what to do if symptoms deteriorate or complications develop. If patients are receiving long-term therapy, tell them when and where to return for review and what symptoms or signs of adverse effects or changes in their condition to report.

If possible, give them an indication of when they might expect to see an improvement in their condition, and when to call in the GP if it doesn’t transpire within a certain timescale.